A 3-Cheese White Pie
This Pizza Bianca, or White Pizza, starts with a base of garlic-infused olive oil before being topped with a blend of creamy Ricotta, soft Mozzarella, and salty Parmigiano Reggiano. After baking, this creamy white pie is topped with a lightly dressed peppery arugula salad and additional shaved Parmesan.
What type of cheese should I choose?
A Pizza Bianca, or White Pizza, simply refers to the fact that the pizza does not contain a traditional red sauce base. It often includes a combination of white cheese, though some variations of this type of pizza don't even include cheese and are instead baked with a heavy brush of olive oil and salt only; similarly to focaccia. I love cheese though, so this pie gets a heavy dose of it before baking. My chosen cheese blend is generally a mixture of cheeses from soft to hard in texture:
- Ricotta (soft)
- Mozzarella (semi-soft)
- Parmigiano Reggiano or "Parmesan" (hard)
Some other great cheeses for topping your Pizza Bianca:
Soft:
- Feta
- Chèvre/Goat cheese
- Gorgonzola (technically a 'blue' cheese with a faint blue/green vein)
Semi-Soft:
- Fontina
- Taleggio
Semi-Hard:
- White cheddar
- Gruyere
- Provolone
- Monterey Jack
- Cotija
Hard:
- Pecorino Romano (a lovely alternative to Parmesano Reggiano that is a bit younger and tangier in taste)
- Asiago
WHAT ABOUT THE PIZZA CRUST?
I prefer to use this Easy Same-Day Pizza Dough recipe to make this Pizza Bianca, but if you have a preferred pizza crust recipe of your own or want to grab some pre-made dough from the store, feel free to use those as well.
WHAT TEMPERATURE IS BEST TO BAKE PIZZA AT?
Your aim is a perfectly golden crust and nicely caramelized toppings, so the hotter the better. Many professional pizzerias keep their ovens heated to 800 degrees F or higher, but most home ovens only reach temperatures between 500-550 degrees F so this recipe is created with those constraints in mind. I bake my pizzas at 500 degrees F / 260 degrees C and get wonderful results. If your oven tops out at 450 degrees F / 232 degrees C, I have tested that temp many times over as well and it works well, though you’ll want to plan on a few extra minutes in the oven, especially if your pie is piled high with toppings.
REHEATING PIZZA LEFTOVERS
It would be cliche if I made a joke about leftovers and pizza right now, so we’ll just skip that and assume you didn’t eat the entire pie for a moment. My two favorite methods for reheating pizza so it retains its crisp crust while remelting the cheese is in the oven or in a cast-iron pan on top of the stove.
Oven method: Bake on a sheet pan at 350 F / 175 C for 10 minutes or until pizza has reached your desired level of warmth and crispness.
Stovetop method: Set pizza in a cast-iron pan over medium-low heat. Allow to cook until the crust has reached your desired level of crispness. If the cheese isn’t melted enough for your taste you can add a few drops of water to the pan (away from the pizza) and cover the pan for a minute or two to allow the steam to melt the cheese further.
WHAT TOOLS DO I NEED TO MAKE THIS RECIPE?
- A baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- A cutting board
- A chef’s knife
- A box cheese grater/shaver
- A kitchen scale or measuring cups (for less precise measurements)
- Measuring spoons
- A rolling pin (only if you prefer an evenly thick pie) otherwise your hands are your best tool
- A pastry brush - OR - a spoon (just a regular flatware spoon will work)
- A medium mixing bowl
- Two wooden spoons (to toss the salad)
- A pizza wheel
Are you looking to upgrade to your cooking tools or replenish your pantry? Check out my kitchen tools shop page and pantry staples shop page to find my must-have kitchen tools, pantry items, and other Whip & Wander favorites.
LOOKING FOR MORE PIZZA INSPIRATION?
Love this Pizza Bianca recipe? Here are some additional favorites for your next pizza night:
- White Pizza with Hot Pickled Peppers and Honey
- White Pizza with Pumpkin, Bacon, Kale, and Gouda
- Truffled Potato Pizza with Ricotta and Taleggio
- Pear and Blue Cheese Pizza
- Spinach Artichoke Pizza
- Cranberry Jalapeno Pizza
- Eggs Benedict Pizza
Check out all of my pizza recipes here!
Pizza Bianca (White Pizza)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 14 minutes
- Total Time: 24 minutes
- Yield: 1 large pizza 1x
- Category: Pizza, Mains
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
This Pizza Bianca, or White Pizza, starts with a base of garlic-infused olive oil before being topped with a blend of creamy Ricotta, soft Mozzarella, and salty Parmigiano Reggiano. After baking, this creamy white pie is topped with a lightly dressed peppery arugula salad and additional shaved Parmesan.
Ingredients
For the pizza:
- ½ recipe Easy Same-Day Pizza Dough
- 2 tbsp garlic-infused olive oil - OR - 2 tablespoon olive oil + ¼ tsp garlic powder
- 164 g (about ⅔ cup) whole milk ricotta cheese
- ½ tsp Kosher salt
- Cracked black pepper, to taste
- 8 oz mozzarella cheese ball, sliced
- 1 ½ oz (about ½ cup) Parmigiano Reggiano "Parmesan" cheese, shredded
For the salad to top:
- 50 g (about 2 cups) arugula/rocket
- ¾ oz (about ¼ cup) Parmigiano Reggiano "Parmesan" cheese, shaved
- 1 ½ tsp garlic-infused olive oil - OR - 1 ½ teaspoon olive oil + 1 clove minced garlic
- ¼ tsp Kosher salt
- ⅛ tsp cracked black pepper
- ⅛ tsp red pepper flakes
- Optional: 2-3 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F / 260 degrees C and set a baker’s half sheet to the side.
- Shape your dough. If you prefer a classic pie-shape with a thicker crust compared to the center of your dough, I suggest hand-stretching your dough. If you prefer your pizza to be an even thickness, I suggest rolling your dough out with a rolling pin.
- If you are hand-stretching your dough:
- I like to rub a small amount of olive oil into my hands first; this allows me to shape the dough easier without it ripping accidentally from friction.
- Press the dough down with the palm of your hand into a disk shape, then use your fingertips to gently press down on the dough disk, further flattening it.
- To further extend the dough, I prefer to press one palm on top of one side of the dough and with the other hand lift the alternative side of the dough and gently work the dough outward, pulling very gently with the tips of my oiled fingers (like a very discrete “come hither” motion) to slowly stretch the dough out. Rotate slightly and repeat until the dough is shaped and stretched to your liking. If you find that the dough starts to snap back or is beginning to tear, allow the dough to relax for a minute or two before proceeding again. Transfer your stretched dough to a sheet of parchment paper.
- If you are using a rolling pin:
- I prefer to place my dough between two sheets of parchment paper to avoid the dough sticking to my rolling pin, but if you prefer you can also sprinkle a bit of flour over the dough ball as well as wiping some over your rolling pin by hand to prevent sticking instead. Once the dough has been rolled to your preferred size and shape, peel the top layer of parchment paper off (if using). The bottom layer that the dough is resting on can be utilized for your baking sheet. If you find that the dough starts to snap back or is beginning to tear, allow the dough to relax for a minute or two before proceeding again.
- If you are hand-stretching your dough:
- Transfer your shaped dough to the reserved baking sheet.
- Brush garlic-infused olive oil (or olive oil + garlic powder) onto the pizza dough lightly and evenly. This can be done with a pastry brush or the back of a spoon
- Top the pizza with ricotta cheese. I find that this works best if you portion the ricotta into 6 or 7 dollops across the pie first, then gently smooth them with the back of a spoon until the pizza is evenly covered. Top the ricotta with the sliced mozzarella cheese, then sprinkle the top with the shredded Parmesan cheese.
- Bake for 14-16 minutes or until the crust has reached your preferred level of crispness and the cheese is well melted and beginning to blister and brown slightly. I find that pizzas that have a thinner topping layer take less time to bake and heavier-topped pizzas generally take a bit longer to bake so watch your pizza closely after the 14-minute mark and adjust as desired.
- A few minutes before the pizza is removed from the oven, gently toss the arugula salad ingredients together in a medium bowl and reserve to the side. Once the pizza is done baking, top with the reserved salad, slice the pizza as desired and serve.
Notes
Nutritional information on Whip & Wander is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ¼th of the pizza
- Calories: 630
- Sugar: 5 g
- Sodium: 849 mg
- Fat: 35 g
- Saturated Fat: 14 g
- Carbohydrates: 50 g
- Protein: 29 g
- Cholesterol: 78 mg
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