by: Kate McMillan
Cook Time
3 minutes
Prep Time
110 (20 minutes active) minutes
Yield
4-6 servings
Total Time
3 minutes
Prep Time
110 (20 minutes active) minutes
Yield
4-6 servings
summary
Pizza bianca, or white pizza, is made without red sauce. It’s incredibly delicious and lends itself well to being topped with peppery arugula greens. This recipe uses a flavorful garlic-oil as its base and then loads up with three cheeses: Parmesan, ricotta and mozzarella. Pizza bianca is best served hot out of the oven while the cheeses are still melty.
ingredients
- Pizza Dough:
- 3½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup whole-wheat flour
- 1 package (2½ teaspoons) quick-rise yeast
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1¼ cups warm water
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Toppings:
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- ¾ cup whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1½ cups shredded low-moisture mozzarella
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 packed cup arugula
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
directions
- To make the dough, combine both flours, yeast, sugar and salt in a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse to combine. With the motor running, add the water and olive oil in a steady stream. Continue to mix for about 30 seconds and then turn out onto a flour-dusted work surface and form into a ball. Transfer the dough to a bowl drizzled with olive oil and turn ball a few times to coat in oil. Cover with clean, dry kitchen towel and let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 1½ hours. Divide the dough into half.
- Preheat your pizza oven according to manufacturer’s instructions.
- On a floured work surface, roll out 1 portion of dough to a 12-inch circle. Transfer to a flour-dusted pizza peel. In a small pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil and garlic just until the garlic sizzles, but doesn’t brown at all, about 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and discard the garlic.
- Brush the pizza with most of the garlic oil (reserve about 2 teaspoons). Scatter the ricotta, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese over the oil. Transfer to the pizza oven and cook, turning as needed until the crust is golden brown and cooked through, about 90 seconds.
- Transfer pizza bianca to a cutting board and scatter with the arugula. Drizzle with the remaining garlic oil, season with pepper, slice and serve.
notes
This pizza dough makes enough for 2 pizzas. If you aren’t using both at once, you can store the second dough ball in an airtight plastic bag in the freezer for up to 2 months.
If you are cooking in an oven, place your pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 450°F. Bake the pizza for about 18 minutes.
It is imperative to get the pizza stone very hot before you add the pizza. This is how you will achieve a crispy crust.
Use low-moisture mozzarella so that there isn’t too much moisture on your pizza.
