Pizza Marinara with anchovies

To be successful, this minimalist pizza demands a good crust and quality toppings: tomatoes—especially the tomatoes!—garlic, dried oregano, and olive oil. Saving the drizzle of olive oil until the pizza has finished baking preserves the aromatics of good-quality extra-virgin olive oil. One of my favorite pizzas is a marinara draped with three or four oil-packed anchovy fillets—Scalia brand anchovy fillets are delicious and can be found in a small, 2.8-ounce jar. I like this very much as a snack on the lighter, Roman-style, super-thin crust, but the classic form is Neapolitan. Pick the dough and style you want. For Roman thin crust, use a small dough ball, about 150 grams in weight. For a Neapolitan-style version, go with a dough ball of about 260 to 270 grams. The marinara, which predates the margherita, began as a workman’s meal in Naples in the 1700s. In its original version, it was tomato-free, topped with garlic, olive oil, and oregano. The following century, after tomatoes had been imported from America

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% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

1 If you use a dough recipe that calls for refrigeration, remove your dough ball from the refrigerator about 60 to 90 minutes before baking pizza. Put your pizza steel or stone on an upper rack in your oven no more than 8 inches below the broiler. Preheat the oven to 550°F (290°C) for 45 minutes.

Step 2

2 Slice the garlic clove thinly, place it in a small bowl, and drizzle just enough olive oil over it to coat the slices. Use your fingers to ensure each slice is coated—this prevents the garlic from burning. Set aside. (Sliced garlic is traditional—but try it chopped, too, and see which way you prefer.)

Step 3

3 Set up your pizza assembly station. Give yourself about 2 feet of width on the countertop. Moderately flour the work surface. Position your wooden peel next to the floured area and dust it lightly with flour. Have the sauce, garlic, and oregano prepared and at hand, plus a ladle or large spoon for the sauce. Switch the oven to broil 10 minutes before loading the pizza.

Step 4

4 To shape the pizza, put the dough ball on the floured work surface, and flip to coat both sides moderately with white flour. Use one of the two shaping methods—Roman or Neapolitan—shown on this page. Transfer the disk of pizza dough (il disco di pasta!) to the flour-dusted wooden peel. Run your hands around the perimeter to relax it and work out the kinks.

Step 5

5 Spread the tomato sauce over the dough to within ½ inch of the edge, smoothing and spreading it with the back of the spoon or ladle in a circular motion. Sprinkle the dried oregano evenly over the pizza. Evenly scatter the sliced garlic over the top of the pizza. Turn off the broiler, then gently slide the pizza onto the pizza steel or stone. Close the oven door and change the oven setting to bake at 550°F (290°C). Let the pizza bake for about 5 or 6 minutes, until the crust is golden with spots of dark brown. (Don’t do a final broil step for this pizza, as it tends to scorch the garlic.) Use tongs or a fork to slide the pizza from the pizza steel or stone onto a large plate.

Step 6

6 Drizzle a small amount of extra-virgin olive oil over the pizza and season with sea salt to taste. If you want to add anchovies, lay the fillets on the pizza now. Serve whole or sliced.

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