Name: Neapolitan Pizza Margherita
Prep time: 3 h
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 3 h 5 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 500 g '00' flour; 325 ml water; 10 g fine sea salt; 3 g fresh yeast, or 1g dried yeast; 400 g canned San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand; 250 g fresh mozzarella, preferably buffalo mozzarella, torn; fresh basil leaves; olive oil, to finish; salt, to taste

The Naples pizza sequence in Eat Pray Love (2010) is one of the film's most quietly joyful moments, the protagonist eating a Margherita without a trace of guilt after a long stretch of denying herself pleasure, the pizza itself standing in for a small, deliberate act of self-permission.

A proper Neapolitan Margherita is topped with real restraint, a light scattering of tomato and mozzarella rather than a heavily loaded American-style pie, and it owes its blistered, airy crust to a long, slow rise and the hottest oven you can manage.

Part of our 40 famous movie foods list.

method

Dissolve the yeast in the water. Mix in the flour and salt, and knead for 10 minutes into a smooth, elastic dough.

Cover and let rise at room temperature for at least 8 hours, or overnight in the fridge, until well risen and bubbly.

Divide into 2 balls, and shape gently, keeping as much air in the dough as possible. Rest for 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven, with a pizza stone or steel, to its absolute highest setting, ideally 250°C (480°F) or higher, for at least 45 minutes.

Stretch each dough ball out by hand into a thin round, leaving a slightly thicker rim.

Top with the crushed tomatoes, a little salt, and torn mozzarella, keeping the topping light; a Neapolitan pizza is not meant to be heavily loaded.

Slide onto the hot stone, and bake for 60 to 90 seconds if using a very hot pizza oven, or 5 to 7 minutes in a home oven, until the crust is blistered and the cheese is just melted.

Scatter fresh basil over the top, drizzle with olive oil, and serve immediately.

chef's tips

A true Neapolitan Margherita is topped lightly, with real restraint on both the sauce and cheese; it is not meant to look or taste like an American-style heavily loaded pizza.
A long, slow rise, ideally 8 hours or more, gives the dough its characteristic airy, blistered crust, something a quick same-day dough cannot fully replicate.
In Eat Pray Love (2010), the Naples pizza sequence is one of the film's most quietly joyful scenes, the protagonist eating a Margherita without a trace of guilt after a period of denying herself pleasure, treating the pizza itself almost as a small act of self-permission.
The highest oven temperature you can reach at home is genuinely important here; a home oven can't fully replicate a wood-fired pizza oven, but pushing it as hot as it will go gets you much closer.