The Perfect Plain Cheese Pizza

Three mozzarellas, sauce dollops on top, and a pecorino base layer. The cheese pizza, perfected.

Time: 8 min | Yield: 1 pizzas | Difficulty: Easy | Serves: 3 | Published: 2026-07-24

A plain cheese pizza has nowhere to hide. No toppings to distract from mediocre technique, which is exactly why getting it perfect matters.

The build order is the secret. Salt, oregano, and pecorino go directly on the sauce so every bite has seasoning baked in. Then a deliberately incomplete layer of shredded mozz, some sauce should peek through. Then cubes of fresh mozzarella for those creamy pockets. Then dollops of raw crushed tomatoes ON TOP of the cheese, which roast into intense little jammy pockets in the oven.

I use my 24-hour room temp dough for this one, but any dough on this site works. Rest it on a rack before slicing so the bottom stays crisp, and finish with Parmigiano Reggiano while it's hot.

Ingredients

Ingredients

Olive Oil

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 550 degrees or as hot as it can go, with a baking steel, for at least an hour.
  2. Stretch your pizza dough (I used my 24 hour dough recipe but obviously can use whatever you'd like!) 24 hour dough recipe. See my 24-hour dough if you need a go-to.
    You'll know it's right: Dough should stretch to an even 14-16 inches with a slightly thicker rim. If it springs back, rest it 10 minutes and try again.
  3. Start with about 1 1/4 cup of crushed tomatoes evenly spread. Could be more or less depending on your pizza size. 1 ½ cups of crushed tomatoes
  4. Sprinkle an even layer of salt and oregano on top. 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of oregano
  5. Then evenly sprinkle your pecorino romano. ¼ cup of grated pecorino
  6. Tear small pieces of basil and evenly place on the pizza. 4 - 5 leaves of basil
  7. Lay down your layer of shredded part skim and whole milk mozzarella. The trick is to not completely cover every inch of sauce with the cheese. ¾ cup of part skim mozzarella, 1 cup of shredded whole milk mozzarella
    You'll know it's right: Don't fully cover the sauce, gaps are intentional. Sauce peeking through means the pie bakes with distinct sauce and cheese zones instead of one fused layer.
  8. Evenly place your cubed fresh mozzarella. ½ cup of cubed fresh mozzarella
  9. Now use the rest of the crushed tomatoes to evenly drop dallops of sauce around on top. About a tablespoon or less. 1 ½ cups of crushed tomatoes
    You'll know it's right: Dollops about a tablespoon each, spaced out. They'll concentrate in the oven into jammy tomato pockets, the signature of this pie.
  10. Into the oven for 8 minutes with a 1 minute optional broil
  11. Let rest on a rack for 1-2 minutes before slicing.
    You'll know it's right: Rest on a rack 1-2 minutes, steam escapes from the bottom instead of softening the crust. Then Parmigiano on while it's still hot enough to melt the shavings slightly.
  12. Finish with Parmigiano Reggiano! Parmigiano Reggiano

Troubleshooting

The pizza came out watery in the middle

Fresh mozzarella wasn't drained, or too much sauce. Cube the fresh mozz and let it drain on paper towels while the oven preheats. Keep the base sauce layer to about 1 1/4 cups and let the top dollops do the tomato heavy lifting.

Cheese browned before the crust finished

Shredded cheese layer too thin or oven position wrong. Bake on a steel in the top third at 550°F. The full three-cheese layer is insulation, skimping on it makes the top race the bottom.

Bottom went soft after slicing

Sliced straight off the peel. The 1-2 minute rack rest is not optional. Steam has to escape from below or your crisp bottom softens under its own moisture.

Tasted flat despite all that cheese

Skipped the salt-oregano-pecorino layer on the sauce. Season the sauce layer directly. Cheese alone doesn't carry a plain pie, that base seasoning is what makes every bite complete.

Sauce dollops slid off while launching

Dollops too big or too close to the edge. A tablespoon or less each, placed away from the rim, and a confident quick launch. Timid launches are when things slide.

Nutrition (2 slices (1/4 of a 14-inch pie)): 340 calories, 16g protein, 36g carbs, 14g fat.