Basil is the last thing to touch a Margherita. We add it after the pizza leaves the oven, not before. At 450°C a basil leaf blackens in seconds and tastes of very little. Laid on a hot pizza it wilts gently and releases its scent.
We tear the larger leaves by hand and leave the small ones whole. Basil bruises easily and does not like the cold, so we keep ours at room temperature with the stems in water and use it within a day or two.
Now, leftovers. Refrigerate any pizza you are keeping within two hours, in a closed container, and eat it within a day. Please do not use the microwave to reheat it. It makes the crust chewy and the cheese rubbery.
Use a frying pan instead. Put the slice in a dry pan over medium heat for two to three minutes until the base is crisp. Then add a few drops of water to the side of the pan, away from the slice, and cover it for a minute. The steam melts the cheese while the base stays crisp.
If you have an oven, heat it to 220°C with a tray inside and give the slices four to five minutes on the hot tray. Add fresh basil at the end if you have some.
