Last updated on March 31st, 2021 at 08:29 am
This white pizza is a simple recipe with all the delight of your favorite pie without the red sauce. Made with just seven ingredients, it can be on the table in 20 minutes.
I’ve been looking for a white pizza recipe quite a while. But not just any white pizza recipe—one that matches my memories of walking up Second Avenue in NYC on a Friday night. After finishing a night out, I was always armed with a greasy plate tucked in a paper bag to protect my slice.
Whether or not that slice would make it to my apartment depended on my mood, but for the most part, only the bag and plate crossed the threshold of my abode.
In my research, I learned a lot about the types of white pizza that are out there, but the right white pizza recipes eluded me, so I came up with a simple one to share. It’s super easy—I make it when I want something really tasty and warm but don’t have a lot of time.
As a caveat, this is not true Italian pizza bianca, rather, it is the pizza I fantasize about when I need a late-night snack.
Pizza Crust
I have my own homemade pizza dough recipe, but for simplicity, this recipe calls for store-bought pizza dough. I, personally, like Trader Joe’s. They make a plain one as well as an herbed pizza dough—both are delicious.
“Sauce”
I tried a white pizza recipe that had an actual sauce-it wasn’t right. It was something akin to alfredo sauce, but that’s not what I was looking for. Through testing, I came to the conclusion that white pizza sauce for my recipe would just be olive oil, garlic and Parmesan cheese (Pecorino Romano is also acceptable).
Cheese
Ricotta is the cheesy star of this pie. While the crust is brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and garlic, and topped with fresh shredded mozzarella, little piles of ricotta cheese are distributed at random across the pie. That bit of ricotta fuses with the crust and creates a sort of savory custardy bite. You can’t help but get a little sad when it’s all gone.
It’s a super simple recipe—no fresh basil, chicken or pesto—just a little something to change up your homemade pizza game.
White Pizza
Ingredients
- 16 oz plain pizza dough (I like Trader Joe’s)
- 1 ½ cup fresh mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1 TB Parmesan cheese grated
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 TB olive oil
- 5 tsp ricotta cheese
- ½ tsp ½ tsp Oregano or Italian seasoning
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 1 TB semolina or cornmeal
Instructions
- With a pizza stone in the oven, preheat oven to 400℉.
- Whisk together the olive oil, garlic, Parmesan cheese and salt.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough so that it’s about ⅛ “ thick.
- Sprinkle pizza peel with semolina or cornmeal (to help the dough slide off the peel and onto the pizza stone).
- Place dough on pizza peel. Using your fingers or a pastry brush, spread the olive oil mixture on the dough.
- Sprinkle dough with mozzarella cheese.
- Evenly spoon dollops of ricotta across the pie.
- Sprinkle pizza with oregano.
- Transfer the pizza to the pizza stone. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the cheese is lightly browned on top. Serve with a sprinkling of crushed red pepper flakes.
- (Alternatively, you can bake this without a pizza stone and pizza peel using a ¼ sheet pan.)
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