Pizza Marinara
Pizza Marinara is the oldest pizza in the world, predating Margherita by centuries. Named after the fishermen (marinai) whose wives prepared it, it has no cheese — just San Marzano tomatoes, garlic, oregano and a generous pour of olive oil. Do not mistake simplicity for lack of flavour: a perfectly made Marinara with a well-fermented Neapolitan crust is one of the greatest things you can eat.
🧂 Ingredients
Dough (2 balls)
- 500g Tipo 00 flour
- 325ml cold water (65%)
- 10g fine sea salt
- 3g instant yeast
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Topping
- 400g San Marzano tomatoes (crushed by hand)
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp dried oregano (generous)
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Pinch of sea salt
- Fresh basil leaves (optional, added after baking)
👨🍳 Instructions
Make the dough
Combine flour, yeast, salt and water. Mix until smooth. Knead 8–10 minutes until elastic. Cold ferment 24–72h for the best flavour — the crust is everything on a Marinara.
Prepare the sauce
Crush San Marzano tomatoes by hand into a bowl. Season with salt and 1 tbsp olive oil. The sauce should be chunky and raw — do not cook it. Taste for seasoning.
Slice the garlic
Peel garlic cloves and slice very thin. In a good Marinara, the garlic is distributed generously across the whole pizza, not just dotted around it.
Stretch the dough
Flatten each ball from the centre outward using your fingertips. Never use a rolling pin. Stretch to 28–30cm, keeping a thick border for the cornicione.
Build the pizza
Spread tomato sauce thinly but evenly, right up close to the edge. Scatter sliced garlic all over. Finish with dried oregano — be generous. Drizzle with olive oil.
Bake
Bake on a preheated stone or steel at maximum temperature (250°C+) for 8–10 minutes, or 60–90 seconds in a wood-fired oven at 450°C. The edges should be charred and blistered.
Finish
Drizzle a little more olive oil directly from the bottle as soon as it comes out of the oven. Add fresh basil if using. Eat immediately.
💡 Pro Tips
- Use the best olive oil you have — with no cheese, the oil is front and centre
- Garlic quantity is a matter of taste, but do not be shy — this pizza is supposed to be garlicky
- Dried oregano works better than fresh here: fresh oregano burns in a hot oven
- This is the perfect pizza to judge dough quality — there is nowhere to hide
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