Neapolitan Margherita Pizza

1. 1Dissolve the yeast in the cold water, then add the flour and mix to a shaggy mass. Leave it for 20 minutes, then add the salt and knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Adding salt after the initial rest lets the flour hydrate freely first.
2. 2Cover and leave at room temperature for 2 hours, then refrigerate for 24 hours. This long cold ferment is where the flavour comes from — a same-day dough will taste flat and bready no matter how well you bake it.
3. 3Divide into 4 balls of about 200 g, place them well apart in a covered tray, and leave at room temperature for 4–6 hours before baking, until visibly puffed and soft.
4. 4Crush the tomatoes by hand and stir in the salt. Do not cook the sauce and do not blend it — Neapolitan sauce goes on raw, and it cooks in the 90 seconds it spends in the oven.
5. 5Tear the mozzarella and leave it in a sieve for 30 minutes. Wet mozzarella is the single most common cause of a soggy centre.
6. 6Put a pizza steel or heavy baking tray on the top shelf and heat the oven to its absolute maximum, at least 250°C, for a full hour. Domestic ovens need that long to saturate the stone with heat.
7. 7Stretch a dough ball on a floured surface using your fingertips, working from the centre outwards and leaving a 2 cm rim untouched. Never use a rolling pin — it crushes out the gas that becomes the airy crust.
8. 8Top with a thin layer of sauce, the mozzarella and a drizzle of oil. Be sparing: an overloaded pizza steams instead of baking.
9. 9Slide onto the hot steel and bake for 6–8 minutes, until the crust is puffed and blistered and the cheese is bubbling. Add the basil as it comes out, not before, or it will burn to black flecks.

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