Wood-Fired Margherita Pizza Recipe (90-Second Bake)

Wood-fired Margherita pizza at a glance

For one 11–12-inch pizza, stretch a fully proofed 250 g dough ball, then add 80 g of hand-crushed tomato, 70–80 g of well-drained fresh mozzarella, 4–6 basil leaves, and 1 teaspoon (about 4–5 g) of extra-virgin olive oil. Bake on a roughly 750°F (400°C) stone with strong overhead heat for 60–90 seconds, turning every 20–25 seconds. Use appearance, not the clock alone: the rim should be inflated and spotted, the base set, and the cheese melted without flooding the center.

That is Brio Pizza Journal’s practical home-oven formula. It is deliberately restrained, but it is not presented as the only legitimate Margherita. The Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN) publishes a formal standard with its own topping ranges and oven conditions. This guide separates that standard from a repeatable home method, so you can choose which target you are actually trying to hit.

What do you need for one pizza?

Use the Neapolitan pizza dough recipe for a four-ingredient formula sized into 250 g balls. Its 24–72-hour cold-rest option is explained separately in the cold-fermentation guide. Bring cold dough out about 1–2 hours before stretching, but judge readiness by softness and extensibility rather than the clock: room temperature, dough temperature, and ball size change the pace.

How does this recipe compare with the AVPN standard?

The current AVPN International Regulations list 60–80 g peeled tomato, 80–100 g buffalo mozzarella or cow’s-milk fiordilatte, 6–7 g extra-virgin olive oil with a stated tolerance, some fresh basil leaves, and an optional 5–7 g grated hard cheese for Margherita. The same document specifies an oven floor of 380–430°C and a dome at approximately 485°C, with a 60–90-second bake.

The older working description of an 850–900°F (455–480°C) dome remains a useful compact-oven orientation, but it is not the exact AVPN dome specification. Likewise, 70–80 g cheese and 1 teaspoon oil are this recipe’s lower-moisture home choice, not a transcription of the formal standard. Naming the distinction is more useful than declaring one table “authentic” and the other wrong.

Make an uncooked tomato sauce

Margherita tomato is crushed, seasoned, and cooked once on the pizza. A simmered sauce can be excellent, but it gives a different concentration and texture.

Drain whole peeled tomatoes enough to remove excess packing liquid, then weigh the fruit. Crush by hand or pulse only two or three times. Stop while the texture is still coarse; blending until perfectly smooth can whip in air and make the sauce pale and foamy.

Season the drained tomato with fine sea salt at about 1.25% by weight for this house formula:

• 240 g tomato × 0.0125 = 3 g salt, roughly a scant 1/2 teaspoon;
• 320 g tomato × 0.0125 = 4 g salt, roughly 2/3 teaspoon; and
• 480 g tomato × 0.0125 = 6 g salt.

Taste before topping. Tomato brands differ in salt, acidity, sweetness, and packing liquid, so the percentage is a starting formula rather than a universal law.

The AVPN’s domestic-supplier parameters say the drained weight for its approved elongated peeled tomato category should be no less than 60% of net weight. That supports a planning example, not a promise about every can: a 400 g / 14 oz can at exactly 60% would yield 240 g fruit and about 160 g packing liquid. At 80 g per pizza, that is three pizzas. Four pizzas need 320 g; start with a 700–800 g can or open a second 400 g can. Six pizzas need 480 g. Read the declared drained weight on your actual can instead of assuming the can follows the example.

San Marzano DOP tomatoes are one valid choice, not a substitute for tasting. A bright whole plum tomato can outperform a famous label that tastes flat. “San Marzano-style” is also not the same claim as protected DOP origin, so read the package precisely.

Keep unused tomato covered at 40°F (4°C) or below and follow the package storage instructions. The previous 3–4-day planning window remains a cautious quality schedule, but do not use it to override a shorter label direction or signs of spoilage. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration advises keeping the refrigerator at or below 40°F (4°C) and refrigerating perishables within two hours, or within one hour above 90°F (32°C).

Drain mozzarella by result, not ritual

Fresh fior di latte contains water that a 60–90-second bake has little time to drive away. The aim is not dried-out cheese; it is pieces that melt without releasing a lake into the center.

1. Remove the mozzarella from its liquid 1–2 hours before baking.
2. Tear or cut it into pieces about 1.5–2 cm across.
3. Spread the pieces on a rack or clean absorbent towel in the refrigerator.
4. Turn or blot them if the lower surface remains glossy.
5. Weigh 70–80 g for each pizza.

An overnight uncovered drain in the refrigerator is an option for a particularly wet cheese, not an automatic requirement. Buffalo mozzarella can carry more free liquid than the cow’s-milk product you usually buy, so assess it directly and use the lower end of the range if needed.

Low-moisture block mozzarella behaves differently. It can brown and release fat quickly under intense overhead flame, although it can suit a longer bake in a conventional home oven. Choose by the bake you are running rather than by prestige.

Fire the oven before stretching the dough

Heat storage matters. A bright dome and a lively flame do not prove that the landing spot has recovered after the previous pizza. Measure the floor with an infrared thermometer at the exact place where the dough will land, then check again between pizzas.

For this recipe, begin around a 750°F (400°C) floor. The formal AVPN range is 380–430°C (716–806°F), with approximately 485°C (905°F) at the dome. The earlier 850–900°F (455–480°C) dome shorthand describes the strong overhead heat used in many compact ovens, but the pizza itself is the final diagnostic.

An oven may need about an hour or more to saturate its floor and dome; some compact ovens heat faster. The wood-fired oven-temperature guide explains measurement distance, cold spots, recovery, and the difference between a hot reading and stored heat.

If the usable floor is closer to 650°F (about 345°C), plan on roughly a 2–3-minute bake. The result will usually be crisper and less dramatically spotted. Turn more often and reduce topping moisture. Do not imitate a 90-second result by pushing a cooler oven or fuel system beyond its manual.

Use a solid-fuel oven only where its manufacturer permits. Follow its clearance, fuel, lighting, shutdown, and weather instructions. Keep children and pets outside the cooking zone, stay with the fire, and use dry heat-resistant gloves and long-handled tools. The U.S. Fire Administration’s outdoor-fire guidance says wood-pellet and other barbecue grills belong outside, should be kept away from structures and overhangs, and should not be left unattended. A model’s manual governs the exact appliance.

Stretch an 11–12-inch base without crushing the rim

Place the room-temperature dough ball on a lightly floured surface. Fine semolina or 00 flour can work; use only enough to prevent sticking. Press from the center outward, leaving the outer 2 cm untouched. That ring contains the gas that becomes the cornicione.

Lift the dough onto the backs of your hands and rotate it, letting gravity widen the center. Stop at 11–12 inches, when the center is evenly thin but not torn. A rolling pin expels the gas from the rim and changes the intended structure.

If the dough springs back, cover it and wait rather than forcing it. If it tears, pinch the hole closed on the bench and reduce the final diameter. Cold, under-relaxed dough often resists; overproofed dough may feel slack and fragile. The response tells you more than elapsed time alone.

Top quickly, but do not rush the launch check

Transfer the stretched base to a lightly floured peel. Once damp topping reaches dough, the sticking clock has started.

1. Spread 80 g tomato from the center outward, stopping 2–3 cm from the edge.
2. Distribute 70–80 g drained mozzarella, leaving some open tomato and avoiding a heavy pile at the center.
3. Place 4–6 basil leaves under a few cheese pieces if baking them, or reserve them for the finished pizza.
4. Add 1 teaspoon (about 4–5 g) olive oil in a thin spiral.
5. Shake the peel gently. The entire pizza should move as one piece.

If one edge sticks, lift only that edge and dust a small amount of flour underneath. Do not keep shaking aggressively; toppings can slide while the base stays put. If the pizza has been sitting for a minute or two, check again immediately before launch.

For several pizzas, stage weighed toppings in separate bowls but stretch one dough ball at a time. Pre-topping a queue gives moisture more time to soak into each base.

Launch, turn, and judge doneness

Launch onto the measured floor opposite the fire, using the motion you practiced with an untopped dough skin or a lightly topped first pizza.

• 0–30 seconds: Leave the base long enough to set before trying to turn it. The rim should begin inflating.
• 30–75 seconds: Turn about one-third of a rotation every 20–25 seconds, or sooner if the fire-facing edge colors rapidly.
• 75–90 seconds: Look for a puffed, browned rim, a set underside with scattered dark spots, and melted cheese with gentle bubbling.

These marks are checkpoints, not permission to ignore a faster oven. If one side darkens rapidly, turn sooner. If the top finishes while the bottom stays pale, the dome-to-floor balance or landing position needs correction. If the base blackens before the cheese melts, let the floor cool or move to a cooler spot; do not simply shorten the bake until the center remains raw.

The manufacturer Ooni commonly uses a 400°C stone target and 60–90-second bake in its published recipes, including regular turning. That is product-specific guidance, not proof that every oven recovers or reads temperature in the same way.

Remove the pizza with a turning or launching peel and place it on a stable heat-resistant surface. Rest about one minute, add reserved basil and a final thread of oil if wanted, then cut into six slices. The first five minutes give the clearest contrast between the crisp outer shell and tender interior.

Diagnose the result before changing the recipe

Change one variable on the next pizza. If you alter cheese, sauce, launch flour, flame, and placement together, the result may improve but the lesson disappears.

Scale the session without losing control

The table scales ingredients, not oven throughput. After each pizza, clear loose flour from the landing area only with the tool and method permitted by the oven manual, confirm the next landing temperature, and allow recovery. Loose flour can scorch, and every metal surface near the mouth may be hot.

A Margherita is useful precisely because it is spare. Hold the dough weight, topping weights, and diameter steady for the first three pizzas. Adjust one fire variable at a time. By the third pizza, the oven has told you far more than a generic temperature slogan can.

Sources

• Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana: 2024 International Regulations — formal Margherita ingredient ranges, floor and dome conditions, and bake time.
• AVPN domestic supplier parameters — the association’s product parameters, including the drained-weight threshold used only for the labeled example.
• Ooni: AVPN-standard pizza method — one manufacturer’s 250 g ball, stone-temperature, and 60–90-second turning workflow.
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Are You Storing Food Safely? — refrigeration temperature and two-hour/one-hour limits.
• U.S. Fire Administration: Outdoor Fire Safety — outdoor use, separation, supervision, and cooled-coal guidance for outdoor cooking equipment.

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