White Pizza
Instructions:
- Pizza bianca or white pizza, pizza without sauce is the
mother of all pizzas. This may seem spare, but I urge you
to try it and experiment with some of the possible addi-
tions and tweaks that follow, because itís among the best
pizzas youíll ever eat.
- 1 recipe Pizza Dough
, mixed and risen - All-purpose flour for stretching or rolling the dough
- Extra virgin olive oil as needed
- Coarse kosher or sea salt
- 1 tablespoon or more roughly chopped fresh rosemary leaves
- Several fresh rosemary sprigs (optional)
- When the dough is ready, knead it lightly, form it into a ball, and divide it into 2 or more pieces if you like; roll each piece into a round ball and put each ball on a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle with flour, cover with plastic wrap or a towel, and let rest for about 30 minutes while you heat the oven.
- Put a baking stone on a lower rack if youíre using one and heat the oven to 500 F, or higher. Roll or lightly press each dough ball into a flat round, lightly flouring the work surface and the dough as necessary (use only as much flour as you need to). Let the rounds sit for a few minutes; this will relax the dough and make it easier to roll out. If you have a peel and baking stone, roll or pat out the dough on the peel, as thinly as you like, turning occasionally and sprinkling it with flour as necessary. If youíre using baking sheets, oil them, then press each dough ball into a flat round directly on the oiled sheets.
- Sprinkle the top with some salt and the rosemary, drizzle with olive oil, and slide the baking sheet into the oven on a rack set in the middle (or the pizza itself onto the stone, which should be set on a lower rack). Bake from 6 to 12 minutes, depending on the oven heat, until nicely browned. Serve immediately or at room tempera- ture (these will keep for a few hours).
- Margherita Pizza.
- The classic Neapolitan pizza: Top the pie(s) with sliced fresh tomato, extra virgin olive oil, a little mozzarella, preferably fresh, and some fresh basil leaves, salt, and Parmesan.
- Marinara Pizza.
- All tomatoes, no cheese: Top the pies with sliced fresh tomato, thinly sliced garlic extra virgin olive oil, and, if you like, a few chopped black olives or whole capers.
- White Pizza with Prosciutto and Parmesan.
- Omit the salt and rosemary. Top each pizza with a few very thin slices of prosciutto, a drizzling of olive oil, and a grat- ing of Parmesan cheese. Add the toppings about halfway through the baking time.
- White Pizza with Clams.
- Also good with diced peeled lightly cooked shrimp or shelled lightly steamed mus- sels. Omit the rosemary. Top each pizza with a few freshly shucked littleneck clams (and some of their juice, if you have it), a few very thin slivers of garlic, a little coarse salt, and some minced fresh parsley leaves. White Pizza with Mushrooms. Omit the rosemary. Top each pizza with some SautÈed Mushrooms . Use plenty of minced fresh parsley leaves; sage is also good. Add the toppings about halfway through cooking.
- White Pizza with Caramelized Onions and Vinegar.
- This takes some work in advance: Omit the rosemary. Make 1 recipe Caramelized Onions , cooked fairly dark. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then stir in about 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, or to taste. Top each pizza with a portion of these onions and some minced fresh basil, thyme, or sage leaves. A sprinkling of plain bread crumbs is also good. Add the toppings about halfway through cooking.