Some recipes require nothing more than excellent ingredients, precise technique, and perfectly controlled cooking. The Margherita pizza belongs to this family of timeless recipes where every detail counts. Behind its apparent simplicity lies a subtle balance between the dough, the tomatoes, the mozzarella, and the heat.
At the 2026 edition of Chefs à Saint-Tropez, we had the pleasure of welcoming pizza chef Kevin Vernet to our professional wood-fired oven. For three days, producers, chefs, and artisans shared their vision of a vibrant, generous culinary culture deeply rooted in flavor.
For his demonstration, Kevin Vernet chose to put a fresh spin on a classic Italian dish with great finesse. A tomato sauce infused with fresh basil, buffalo mozzarella added after cooking to preserve its freshness, and a few swirls of homemade pesto to elegantly highlight the dish.
A deliberately simple recipe that shows that, when cooking in a wood-fired oven, the quality of the ingredients and mastery of the cooking process are enough to evoke emotion.
A recipe by Kevin Vernet, blending Italian tradition with precision technique
For the 2026 Chefs à Saint-Tropez event, we were delighted to invite Kevin Vernet to cook in our professional wood-fired oven during culinary demonstrations around the fire. The pizza chef champions a rigorous approach to pizza, where technique always serves the flavor. His cooking prioritizes balance over showmanship, allowing each ingredient to shine without ever overpowering the others.
This pursuit of excellence earned him the titles of French Champion in dessert pizza and Corsican Champion in classic pizza in 2024. He sums up his high standards simply: “Using quality ingredients is essential.”
This philosophy naturally resonated with the spirit of “Les Chefs à Saint-Tropez,” an event where producers, artisans, and chefs come together to celebrate a vibrant culinary culture rooted in craftsmanship, sharing, and respect for the ingredients.
Through this reimagined Margherita, Kevin Vernet illustrates a fundamental belief: a great pizza does not depend on a multitude of ingredients, but on precision in technique, the quality of the ingredients, and perfectly controlled cooking.
A demonstration using the Flambeur Pro 120
For this demonstration, Kevin Vernet cooked on the Flambeur Pro 120, our professional wood-fired oven designed to meet the demands of chefs, pizza makers, and restaurant owners.
Featuring a true masonry hearth and high thermal inertia, it provides stable and even heat, ideal for high-temperature baking. The refractory hearth stores energy and then releases it gradually, resulting in a crispy crust, a well-developed rim, and rapid baking while preserving the softness of the crumb.
Beyond pizza, the Flambeur Pro 120 supports professionals in a wide variety of cooking applications: bread, meat, fish, roasted vegetables, and slow-cooked dishes. Its versatility makes it a true tool for culinary creativity, designed for demanding kitchens as well as for establishments seeking to offer an authentic wood-fired experience.
Why This Margherita Pizza Recipe Works So Well in a Wood-Fired Oven
Baking over a wood fire brings out the full character of this pizza.
The intense heat quickly penetrates the dough, while the baking stone ensures even cooking on the bottom. The crust rises naturally, becoming light and airy, while the tomato sauce intensifies in flavor without losing its freshness.
In a high-inertia oven, baking is both vigorous and perfectly controlled. It takes just a few dozen seconds to achieve that much-sought-after balance between a crispy crust, a soft crumb, and fillings that retain their texture.
It is precisely this cooking method that makes all the difference between a wood-fired pizza and one cooked using a more conventional method.
The quality of the dough is the starting point for a great wood-fired pizza. Without aiming for a complex fermentation process, this recipe provides a simple and effective foundation, ideal for making a supple, light, and easy-to-work-with dough.
Ingredients (for 4 pizzas)
- 500 g of T45 wheat flour or pizza flour
- 325 ml of water at room temperature
- 10 g of salt
- 10 g fresh baker’s yeast (or 4 g dry yeast)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Preparing the pizza dough
Dissolve the yeast in the water, then gradually stir in the flour. Next, add the salt and olive oil, then knead the dough for about ten minutes, until it becomes smooth, supple, and slightly elastic.
Shape the dough into a ball, cover it with a clean cloth, and let it rise for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours at room temperature, until it doubles in size.
Next, divide the dough into four equal portions and let them rest for about 30 minutes before gently rolling them out by hand.
Dough that has rested thoroughly will be easier to work with and will form a light crust when baked in a wood-fired oven.
You can also check out the recipe for sourdough pizza dough from another iconic pizza chef: Manu Barthélémy, who shares his tips in a previous article.
Ingredients for the tomato sauce
- 1 kg of tomato pulp
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 10 g of salt
- 5 to 6 fresh basil leaves
- A drizzle of olive oil
Blend all the ingredients until the sauce is smooth and uniform.
Prepare the tomato sauce
Tomato sauce is the foundation of this recipe. Deliberately simple, it highlights the freshness of the ingredients and complements the wood-fired cooking without overpowering the flavors of the dough.
Blend the tomato pulp with the garlic cloves, salt, fresh basil leaves, and a drizzle of olive oil until you have a smooth, even sauce.
Basil adds a fresh, herbaceous note, while garlic delicately enhances the tomato flavor. A simple preparation, designed to let the wood-fired oven take center stage.
Ingredients for the pesto
- 100 g fresh basil leaves
- 50 g grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 to 3 g of salt
- 80 to 120 ml of olive oil
Blend until you have a smooth pesto. Adjust the amount of olive oil to achieve the desired texture.
Make the pesto
Here, pesto replaces the traditional whole basil leaves. Added after cooking, it brings an intense vegetable flavor and a lovely aromatic depth, while preserving all the freshness of the ingredients.
Blend the basil leaves with the grated Parmesan, salt, and olive oil until the mixture has a smooth, glossy texture. Gradually adjust the amount of oil until the pesto is thin enough to be dispensed using a pipette or a squeeze bottle.
Just a few strokes are enough to bring out the pizza’s full flavor without ever overpowering the tomato and mozzarella.
Preheat the oven
For this wood-fired Margherita pizza recipe, the oven must be heated to a high temperature, with a perfectly hot baking surface and a flame still burning.
After the fire has flared up, gather the embers to one side to maintain a lively flame while leaving enough space to cook the pizza directly on the hearth.
This balance allows the dough to rise quickly while bringing out the subtle smoky notes characteristic of wood-fired baking.
Top the pizza
Roll out the dough thinly, then spread a thin layer of tomato sauce over it, leaving a border all around.
The success of this pizza depends on getting the proportions just right. Each ingredient should complement the others without ever overpowering them.
Bake the pizza in a wood-fired oven
Place the pizza directly on the hot baking stone.
Depending on the oven temperature, baking usually takes between 90 seconds and 2 minutes.
Rotate the pizza regularly to ensure the crust browns evenly.
Once the crust is perfectly cooked, remove the pizza from the oven immediately.
Ingredients for the finishing touches
- 125 g buffalo mozzarella
- Homemade Pesto
Finishes
Gently tear the mozzarella di bufala and spread it over the piping-hot pizza.
Next, use a pipette or a squeeze bottle to pipe the pesto onto the mozzarella in a few thin lines. This plating technique adds a graphic touch while evenly distributing the basil’s flavors throughout the pizza.
This way, the mozzarella retains all its freshness, while the pesto fully brings out the basil’s aromas. This contrast between the warmth of the dough, the milky creaminess of the mozzarella, and the fresh, herbaceous notes of the pesto gives this Margherita its unique character.
A pizza where simplicity is the hallmark
This recipe for wood-fired Margherita pizza perfectly illustrates what skillful wood-fired cooking can achieve: bringing out the best in ingredients rather than altering them.
Through this demonstration at the Chefs à Saint-Tropez event, Kevin Vernet reminds us that the greatest recipes are often the simplest. When high-quality ingredients meet precise technique and mastery of heat, pizza truly shines.
This is a philosophy we share here at Manufacture Ephrem: to design wood-fired ovens that allow both professionals and enthusiasts to make fire a true partner in culinary creation.
