Authentic Italian Margarita Pizza - Oak Wood fire cooked

PIZZAS, BREADS, CAKES & DESERTS ON BBQ
Wingman
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Authentic Italian Margarita Pizza - Oak Wood fire cooked

Post by Wingman »

Hi mates, this is a simple yet full flavored pizza recipe.

What is a Margherita pizza?
It is Pizza Margherita. It was made in honor of the Queen consort of Italy, Margherita of Savoy. It's toppings are tomatoes, fresh sliced Mozzarella, and fresh basil leaves. It represents the colors of the Italian flag. In this recipe I use "Certified" San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes in a can. The "certified" n the label means they were imported from Italy and not grown locally or elsewhere. There is a difference. Some sauce recipes call for sugar. This is not necessary when using the San Marzano tomato's from Italy.

The tomato's are about $4 US a 28oz. can.

All in all this recipe is solid with the end result being a crispy crust and the topping and sauce come together in harmony. This is now my favorite pizza recipe, Simple and full flavored.

My Recipe Details.



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Rob
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"Smoke it... and they will come!"
louievandeoorst
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Re: Authentic Italian Margarita Pizza - Oak Wood fire cooked

Post by louievandeoorst »

looks bloody good
I`m hungry now.... :P
Narmnaleg
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Re: Authentic Italian Margarita Pizza - Oak Wood fire cooked

Post by Narmnaleg »

I love what you've done there Wingman and I'd love to get stuck into your Margherita.
There's never any right or wrong when it comes to pizza as it's all good, just for reference, this is the original:


Notice the thin base, high temp and short cook time.

When I want to save myself some time, I just open the can of tomatoes, chop the "pelati" and pour directly on top of the base (no sauce cooking). To me there's no need to add more flavour to the tomato (other than salt).
FirePlay
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Re: Authentic Italian Margarita Pizza - Oak Wood fire cooked

Post by FirePlay »

That brought back some memories Narmnaleg - that's pretty much exactly all my wife and I ate when we were on honeymoon in Positano... it was cheap and oh so good! There's just something about the fresh tomatoes and basil they use that adds up to a flavour explosion!

I'm hungry now and I've only just eaten!
Narmnaleg
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Re: Authentic Italian Margarita Pizza - Oak Wood fire cooked

Post by Narmnaleg »

FirePlay wrote:That brought back some memories Narmnaleg - that's pretty much exactly all my wife and I ate when we were on honeymoon in Positano... it was cheap and oh so good! There's just something about the fresh tomatoes and basil they use that adds up to a flavour explosion!

I'm hungry now and I've only just eaten!
TBH I've found the locally available canned tomatoes and genovese basil to be just as good. The cheese also is pretty much on par as long as you get something like bocconcini or proper mozzarella and make sure it hasn't been on the shelf too long (not the yellow mozzarella stuff). I reckon the difference is in the dough and (thin) base as well as the oven temps which allow super short cooking times.
The closest I've come to this is on my BSK, using good quality flour and the simplest dough recipe (flour, water, yeast, and a little salt, left to rise for 3 hours at room temp). Got the BSK to almost 400c and cooked the pizzas in around 3 minutes.
The simplest pizzas are my favourite (margherita, EVOOsaltgarlic, EVOOsaltgarlicswissbrownmushroom, EVOOsaltrosemary, EVOOsaltthinslicedpotatoesrosemary).
FirePlay
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Re: Authentic Italian Margarita Pizza - Oak Wood fire cooked

Post by FirePlay »

Narmnaleg wrote: TBH I've found the locally available canned tomatoes and genovese basil to be just as good. The cheese also is pretty much on par as long as you get something like bocconcini or proper mozzarella and make sure it hasn't been on the shelf too long (not the yellow mozzarella stuff). I reckon the difference is in the dough and (thin) base as well as the oven temps which allow super short cooking times.
The closest I've come to this is on my BSK, using good quality flour and the simplest dough recipe (flour, water, yeast, and a little salt, left to rise for 3 hours at room temp). Got the BSK to almost 400c and cooked the pizzas in around 3 minutes.
The simplest pizzas are my favourite (margherita, EVOOsaltgarlic, EVOOsaltgarlicswissbrownmushroom, EVOOsaltrosemary, EVOOsaltthinslicedpotatoesrosemary).
Thinking back on it I'm pretty sure the main thing was they also used a combination of both fresh basil and cooked basil. ie at least half of the basil (probably more) went on the pizza after it came out of the oven. That gave it a really good kick along - a bit like making sure you don't cook garlic for too long or it loses a lot of the real flavour. But I love the taste of raw fresh basil - it doesn't take long in an oven for it to lose a lot of its flavour in my experience.
Narmnaleg
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Re: Authentic Italian Margarita Pizza - Oak Wood fire cooked

Post by Narmnaleg »

FirePlay wrote:
Thinking back on it I'm pretty sure the main thing was they also used a combination of both fresh basil and cooked basil. ie at least half of the basil (probably more) went on the pizza after it came out of the oven. That gave it a really good kick along - a bit like making sure you don't cook garlic for too long or it loses a lot of the real flavour. But I love the taste of raw fresh basil - it doesn't take long in an oven for it to lose a lot of its flavour in my experience.
I agree, I noticed in the video that their basil was still good when the pizza was ready. Probably because it was in the oven for only 1 minute (despite the high temps).
Smokey
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Re: Authentic Italian Margarita Pizza - Oak Wood fire cooked

Post by Smokey »

Does anyone make there own Mozt like I sometimes do?
Its freeking easy
If trees screamed when we cut them down, We wouldn't. If they screamed all the time we would.
http://www.aussiecue.com.au
Narmnaleg
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Re: Authentic Italian Margarita Pizza - Oak Wood fire cooked

Post by Narmnaleg »

Smokey Mick wrote:Does anyone make there own Mozt like I sometimes do?
Its freeking easy
Ermmmm... what's Mozt? Tomato puree? I have in the past, but I'm happy enough with the canned stuff.
Smokey
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Re: Authentic Italian Margarita Pizza - Oak Wood fire cooked

Post by Smokey »

Narmnaleg wrote:
Smokey Mick wrote:Does anyone make there own Mozt like I sometimes do?
Its freeking easy
Ermmmm... what's Mozt? Tomato puree? I have in the past, but I'm happy enough with the canned stuff.
Sorry :roll: mozzarella
If trees screamed when we cut them down, We wouldn't. If they screamed all the time we would.
http://www.aussiecue.com.au
BarbieCrazy
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Authentic Italian Margarita Pizza - Oak Wood fire cooked

Post by BarbieCrazy »

Smokey Mick wrote:Does anyone make there own Mozt like I sometimes do?
Its freeking easy
It is quite difficult, not?
Narmnaleg
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Re: Authentic Italian Margarita Pizza - Oak Wood fire cooked

Post by Narmnaleg »

Wow, suitably impressed Mick! I've never given it a go. I thought it was a lengthy process.... How long does it take you to do a batch?
Card Shark
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Re: Authentic Italian Margarita Pizza - Oak Wood fire cooked

Post by Card Shark »

Nice job Wingman!

Interesting video. I reckon the crust makes a good pizza. Always a challenge to get ones BBQ indirect up to 500c +, even a Kamado. Doing them quick like that definitely stops the crust drying out. Peter Reinhart has quite a number of interesting videos on his Pizza Quest site. This is his take on a Margarita.CS

http://www.fornobravo.com/pizzaquest/we ... ufala.html
Wingman
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Re: Authentic Italian Margarita Pizza - Oak Wood fire cooked

Post by Wingman »

Narmnaleg wrote:
FirePlay wrote:
Thinking back on it I'm pretty sure the main thing was they also used a combination of both fresh basil and cooked basil. ie at least half of the basil (probably more) went on the pizza after it came out of the oven. That gave it a really good kick along - a bit like making sure you don't cook garlic for too long or it loses a lot of the real flavour. But I love the taste of raw fresh basil - it doesn't take long in an oven for it to lose a lot of its flavour in my experience.
I agree, I noticed in the video that their basil was still good when the pizza was ready. Probably because it was in the oven for only 1 minute (despite the high temps).
Narmnaleg, I put fresh basil leaves into the sauce when I cooked it. The basil on top of the pizza was put on prior to placing it into the cooker. It was fresh basil with plenty of moisture in the leaves so it held up good in the cooker and kept its flavor.
Rob
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pierre
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Re: Authentic Italian Margarita Pizza - Oak Wood fire cooked

Post by pierre »

Any tomato can will do, it's the least important ingredient in a pizza
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