Pizza stones

A pizza stone is a round stoneware, terra-cotta, or ceramic platter that sits under the pizza while it bakes. The microscopic pores in the pizza stone absorb steamy moisture from the baking dough while distributing heat evenly under the entire crust. The result is a perfectly cooked crust that won t... 

Bake on a pizza stone or directly on the oven rack, until the cheese is melted and bubbly, 8 to 10 minutes. 

It is said that the soldiers of Darius the Great (521-486 bc) emperor of Persia baked a kind of flat bread on their shields and then covered it with cheese and dates when on campaign. Cato the Elder, i.e. Marcus Porcius Cato (234-149 bc), wrote of a flat round of dough dressed with olive oil, herbs and honey baked on stones . Shops were found in the ruins of Pompeii apparently equipped for the manufacture and sale of flat breads, possibly pizzas. 

The classic Neapolitan pizza is supposed to be similar to Margherita but with added anchovies. This is a thin light product that is cooked by placing it on a very hot bake stone (around 600°C) on top of a wood fired oven for 0.5-1 min. 

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