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Pizza Margherita
with Italian tossed salad

Active: 40 Total: 70

Sometimes simple is best, and that's definitely the case with pizza margherita that needs little more than some fresh mozzarella and basil to make an irresistible dinner. Toss together a simple Italian salad while the pizza cooks.

Tags
Proteins
Cuisines

Ingredients

Metric
Servings:
4
Pizza Sauce:
  • Garlic - 2 cloves , chopped
  • Oil, olive - 1 Tbsp
  • Oregano, dried - 1/4 tsp
  • Tomato paste - 4 Tbsp
  • Stock, any type - 1/4 cup (sub water)
Pizza Margherita:
  • Pizza dough - 1 lb
  • Flour, all-purpose - 2 Tbsp
  • Cheese, fresh mozzarella - 8 oz , sliced
  • Basil, fresh - 10 leaves , sliced
  • Oil, olive - 1 Tbsp
  • Pizza sauce (ingredients listed separately) - ~1/2 cup
Italian Tossed Salad:
  • Tomatoes, medium (sub half a cup cherry or grape tomatoes for each medium tomato) - 1 , diced
  • Celery - 1 stalk , chopped
  • Lettuce, romaine (sub green leaf or iceberg) - 2 hearts , chopped
  • Black olives, sliced (2.25 oz / 63 g) - 1 can , drained and rinsed
  • Mayonnaise (sub plain Greek yogurt) - 1 Tbsp
  • Oil, olive - 3 Tbsp
  • Vinegar, red or white wine - 2 tsp
  • Oregano, dried - 1/4 tsp

Prep

  1. Pizza dough - Cover in flour and let rest for at least 30 minutes outside of fridge before rolling out. (Resting dough gives gluten time to chill out, which makes the dough much more pliable.)

  2. Make sauce - (If prepping right before cooking, get oven heating before continuing with prep.) Chop garlic. Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Add olive oil (the portion for the sauce) and when hot, add garlic and oregano and saute until fragrant, ~1 minute. Stir in tomato paste and stock and simmer until thickens slightly, ~1 minute. Add more stock if needed to reach a smooth, spreadable consistency. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)

  3. Mozzarella / Basil / Tomatoes / Celery / Lettuce - Prep as directed.

  4. Olives - Drain and rinse.

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Make

  1. Heat oven to 425F (218C) degrees and position top rack so it’s at the very top.

  2. Brush a sheet pan with some olive oil. Using hands, stretch out pizza dough to cover sheet pan - it should be pretty easy to do if you let the dough rest. Brush dough with olive oil (the portion for the pizza).

  3. Bake dough on top rack for 3 minutes without toppings. This solo time in the oven gives the dough time to crisp up; if you put toppings on now, your crust may get soggy.

  4. Spread tomato sauce over dough. Top with cheese and basil.

  5. Bake pizza on the top rack for 8 to 11 minutes, until cheese is bubbly.

  6. While pizza cooks, whisk together mayonnaise, olive oil (the portion for the salad), vinegar and oregano. Toss dressing with lettuce, olives, tomatoes and celery.

  7. Slice pizza and serve with salad on the side. Enjoy!


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