I had an idea for a chicken bacon pizza recipe and at first was going to do more of a garlic and olive oil base but then had a thought. Knowing how much the people in my life love a good cream sauce, I envisioned said sauce cozying up to the chicken and adding a pop of unexpected flavor that would leave ’em wondering, “what is that white pizza sauce and where has it been all my life?”.
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Ingredients you’ll need
The base is a thick and rich butter and cream sauce that is simmered with a whole head of nutty roasted garlic. As my grandma Nina used to say, “Ma-dohn”.
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Here is the short list:
How to make roasted garlic white pizza sauce
You are going to end up with about 1 1/2 cups of garlic pizza sauce so grab a medium-sized skillet. I use a 9″ French skillet but anything around that size would work. This isn’t the time to call on your largest skillet or cast iron.
- Roast a whole head of garlic by trimming the bulb exposing the tips of each clove. Drizzle olive oil over, wrap in foil and roast until the cloves can be squeezed out, about 30-40 minutes. Check out this post on how to roast garlic for more insider tips.
- Heat a skillet over medium heat and pour in the heavy cream and 2 tablespoons of butter.
- Stir the butter into the cream as it melts while keeping an eye on the heat.
- Squeeze the cloves right into the sauce and use a flat edge of a spatula to smash the garlic into the sauce.
- Season with the salt, pepper and nutmeg and continue cooking the sauce for about 6 minutes. You’ll know the sauce is ready when swiping through the bottom of the pan with the spoon leaves a trail and the sauce coats the back of the spoon.
- Off the heat, stir in the parmesan cheese and allow the sauce to cool before spreading on your choice of pizza crust.
White pizza sauce recipe notes
There are few more tips I want to share to make this creamy pizza sauce the best it can be:
A trail. You’ll know the sauce is ready when you pull a spatula or spoon through it and it leaves a trail as shown above.
Have the ingredients out and ready to go. The French call this mise en place. I’m not sure what that translates to in Italian but in my house, it’s called being ready.
Don’t have heavy cream but still want to make the pizza sauce? Use half and half. If that’s not an option, you could make a béchamel sauce with 2% milk.
Feel free to zhush up the sauce with a bit of crushed red pepper for some heat.
Where else to use it?
Spread on some ciabatta rolls piled high with thinly sliced beef tenderloin and peppery arugula.
Make a double batch and pour over cooked pasta for a stovetop garlic macaroni and cheese.
Dip a big hunk of focaccia bread into this cheesy white sauce and serve with some tomato soup for a cozy winter lunch.
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Creamy Roasted Garlic Pizza Sauce
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Ingredients
For the roasted garlic
- 1 head garlic
- 2 T olive oil, divided
- a little salt and pepper
For the sauce base
- 1 ½ cup heavy cream, start with 1 cup
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
For the garlic
- Preheat the oven to 400°.
- Use a sharp knife to carefully slice off the top of the head of the garlic to expose the top of each clove.1 head garlic
- Center the head of garlic on a small square of aluminum foil. Drizzle 1 Table spoon of olive oil over the head of garlic and season with salt and pepper. Wrap the garlic in the foil.2 T olive oil, a little salt and pepper
- Place the garlic in a small heatproof baking dish and roast for about 30-40 minutes.
- Remove the garlic from the oven and allow to cool for a bit while you make the sauce.
For the sauce
- Add the cream and the butter to a small saucepan. Once the butter melts and assuming the garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze the cloves out of the skins right into the cream sauce. Use the flat edge of a wooden spatula or spoon to mash the garlic into the sauce.1 ½ cup heavy cream, 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- Heat the pizza sauce over medium heat until the sauce thickens, about 6 minutes. Add in the salt, pepper and nutmeg. You'll know the sauce is ready once it coats the back of the paddle.½ teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, 1 pinch nutmeg
- Turn off the heat and stir in the parmesan cheese. Taste and correct the seasoning as needed.¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- Allow to cool before spreading thickly on a pizza crust. Or make ahead and refrigerate up to three days in a sealed, air-tight container.
