During many visits to my parents’ home in Philadelphia over the years, I became a big fan of the regional food and with that a white pizza with ricotta from a local pizzeria. I knew I just had to recreate it for you.
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White pizza or pizza bianca
White pizza is the polar opposite of tomato-topped pizza pie. Instead of being doused with pizza sauce, a homemade pizza crust (or store-bought) is topped with cheese, olive oil, herbs and sometimes, garlic. And then the whole thing is baked, culminating in a glorious, massive cheese pull.
Cheese is heaven as far as I’m concerned. And this white pie has four cheeses.
Speechless.
Four cheese white pizza
Let’s talk the cheeses that make a white pizza more than just blonde pizza.
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- Ricotta. Pillowy piles of ricotta add almost a creamy white sauce texture when you bite into this delicious white pizza. And a creamy easy homemade ricotta would be so good here!
- Asiago. Adds a sharp quality to balance out the ricotta. You could also use sharp provolone if you prefer.
- Italian Fontina. Not always easy to find, Italian fontina has a beautiful melting texture.
- Fresh mozzarella cheese. The magic ticket to the cheese pull, my friend.
Essential pizza-making tools
Here’s everything you’ll need to make pizza dough at home:
Large mixing bowls. One of my favorite kitchen tools from my days working at Williams-Sonoma is this 10 piece set of glass mixing bowls. Great for rising pizza dough. (Talk about a great bridal or wedding gift too!)
Pizza peel. When it comes to pizza peels, one is great and 2 is better, especially when making multiple pizzas like you will for breakfast pizza. I use both this wooden pizza peel (similar to the one linked) and this Epicurean pizza peel in tandem. So good!
Stone or steel. I use these Emile Henry ceramic pizza stones and they help make the BEST crispy pizza crust ever! You preheat them at 500˚ for 20 minutes or so and pop your pizza on them using a peel. Crispy pizza (even in the center) in 10 minutes!
Pizza cutter. I have a Cutco pizza cutter that is a gem but also love these long rocker pizza cutters that come in different versions.
“00” flour. While “00” flour isn’t necessarily a tool, it makes the best homemade pizza dough. This post on homemade ravioli dough shares more info on “00” flour.
Cornmeal. I always keep cornmeal on hand to sprinkle on the pizza peel so that the pizza slides easily into the oven onto the stone.
How to make white pizza (step by step instructions)
On a floured surface, roll out the pizza dough to approximately 13″ in diameter. Transfer to a cornmeal coated pizza peel.
Other pizza dough options:
- Sicilian-style pizza dough: a thicker, bakery-style pizza dough
- Neapolitan pizza dough: a crisp, pizza dough with puffy pockets.
- Store bought. I used Trader Joe’s when homemade pizza dough isn’t an option.
Storage, reheating and freezing
Store. Refrigerate leftover white pizza slices in an airtight container for up to 4 days. If still soft, I like to use a piece of parchment paper to separate the pieces.
Reheat. For best results, pizza is best reheated in the oven to get the crust crispy and the cheese melted just right. Heat the oven to 350˚ and place the leftover pizza on a baking sheet and heat for about 8 minutes until crisped up.
Freeze. You can freeze white pizza in an airtight freezer bag for up to 3 months. See directions above for using parchment. I like wrapping plastic as well before placing in the freezer bag. If you’ve added any greens like arugula on top, I wouldn’t recommend freezing.
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Crispy White Pizza with Ricotta and Asiago
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Equipment
- cornmeal
Ingredients
- 1 ball of pizza dough, from homemade pizza dough recipe; *see below for other options; store-bought also works
- ½ cup fontina cheese, grated
- 4-5 slices fresh mozzarella, torn into pieces
- ½ cup asiago cheese, grated or fontinella
- ½ cup ricotta cheese
- fresh basil
- extra virgin olive oil
- kosher salt
- ground black pepper
- Romano cheese
- crushed red pepper, if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 500˚ and place a pizza stone in the oven to heat for about 20 minutes.
- To a large pizza peel, generously sprinkle on cornmeal.
- Make the dough into a round and using fingers and pushing in a circular motion, swirl the crust and push out until the circle reaches about 13” in diameter.
- Place dough on pizza peel. Spread on cheeses starting with grated cheeses and then staggering fresh mozzarella. Top with plops of ricotta cheese.
- Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, generous amount of black pepper and sprinkling of romano cheese.
- Bake for about 10 minutes or until the crust is cooked and top is charred to your liking. Broil if desired for a touch more char.
Notes
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- Sicilian-style pizza dough: a thicker, bakery-style pizza dough
-
- Neapolitan pizza dough: a crisp, pizza dough with puffy pockets.
question? I want to add roasted garlic, red onion and mushrooms. Do I add before i bake?
Hopefully you saw my email reply, Dorothy, while I was on vacation. But for anyone else who might be wondering, yes top the white pizza with the other ingredients before you bake it. Thanks for the question, Dorothy!
Delicious!!!
Thank you Kathy! I agree..it’s a keeper!😊