It is almost hard to imagine, but less than a hundred years ago, the only place people ate pizza was in Italy. Now, no matter what corner of the world you are standing on, there is a good chance there is a pizzeria on the opposite corner.

At first pizza toppings were quite simple, but that has changed too. It is now almost possible to get a pizza with anything on it! But it is still the very simple Margherita pizza that remains the most popular.

The story goes that in 1889 Queen Margherita of Italy was visiting Naples. She had heard of pizza and wanted to taste it. Three pizzas were prepared for but it was the mozzarella, basil and tomato pizza that impressed her, not only because of its taste but also because its colors were that of the Italian flag. From then on that pizza was known as a Margherita (Margarita).

Making a pizza is actually a relatively easy, and cheap process. It can also be a lot of fun, especially if you want to cook with your children.

For the pizza dough all you will need is three and a half cups of flour, one tablespoon of yeast, one and and a half cups of warm water, a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of olive oil (though regular oil will make do).

Pour the warm water into a small bowl and sprinkle the yeast in, stirring until it is dissolved. Leave it for 5 minutes or until the yeast starts forming small bubbles. Sift the flour into a big bowl or onto a clean surface, then mould into a mound, with a nice round hole in the middle. Pour the yeast mix into the hole, and add the olive oil and salt. Grab a spatula and draw all the ingredients together, then with your hands start mixing it until it forms a dough.

Sprinkle flour all over a work surface, and move the dough onto it. Push and fold the dough so it takes in a little more flour. You basically want to knead it until is no longer sticking your hands, and you have a ball of soft dough.

Grab another bowl (about 3 or 4 times bigger than your dough) and spread a little olive oil inside it, then transfer the dough into the bowl. Make an incision or 2 across the top of the dough, so it doesn’t break while rising, and then cover the bowl with a kitchen cloth. Depending on the room temperature, the dough should rise to about double its size in an hour and a half.

At this point, to eliminate the air bubbles, push down and knead gently, until they are gone, then put the dough back onto the lightly floured surface and cut it into three pieces of the same size. Then use a rolling pin (and your hands) to shape the dough into the round thin pizza base.

For a Margherita, spread pureed tomato over the base (you may want to make a mix with olive oil, salt and pepper) and break a few basil leaves into small pieces and spread across. Put the pizza in a preheated oven (500F/260C) for about ten minutes. Take it out, add the mozzarella cheese and return to the oven for 10 more minutes.

And there you have it, a Margherita pizza just the like Queen of Italy had in 1889. You can play around with this basic recipe to make many types of pizzas, adding toppings to suit the taste buds of the whole family.

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