Pizza Bianca Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Place a 12-inch cast-iron skillet in the oven to preheat for 20 to 25 minutes.
• Meanwhile, roll or stretch the dough into a 14-inch circle. Remove the preheated skillet from the oven. Drizzle half the garlic-infused olive oil into the skillet, then carefully transfer the dough to the skillet, pressing it up the edges and letting it sizzle. Brush the remaining olive oil on the dough. Sprinkle the grated mozzarella and Asiago on the dough, then top with the mozzarella pearls. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper. Bake on the bottom rack of the oven until golden, 12 to 14 minutes.
• Transfer to a cutting board, then drizzle with the truffle oil, top with shaved Parmesan and lots of fresh basil. Cut into slices and serve.

Steps:

• In bread machine pan, place dough ingredients in order suggested by manufacturer. Select dough setting (check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1-2 tablespoons of water or flour if needed). , When cycle is completed, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Punch down; cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Press dough into a 13x9-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray; build up edges slightly. , In a large skillet, saute mushrooms and onion in oil for 3-5 minutes or until onion is crisp-tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in basil. , In a small bowl, combine the filling ingredients; spread over crust. Sprinkle with vegetable topping. , Bake at 400° for 35-45 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Steps:

• Dissolve the yeast in warm water in a large bowl and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in 3 cups flour and the salt, stirring until smooth. Stir in an additional 2 cups flour; continue adding flour 1 tablespoon at a time (up to 1/2 cup), stirring until the dough comes away from the bowl but is still sticky. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead with lightly floured hands. Start by slapping the dough onto the counter, pulling it toward you with one hand and pushing it away from you with the other. Fold the dough back over itself (use a bench scraper or a wide knife to help scrape the dough from the surface). Repeat until it's easier to handle, about 10 times. Finish kneading normally until the dough is smooth, elastic and soft, but a little tacky, about 10 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball and transfer to a lightly oiled bowl; turn to coat. Cover with plastic and let rise in a warm place until it doubles in volume, about 3 hours. Press it with your finger to see if it's done; an indent should remain.
• Prepare the charcoal in a chimney starter (allowing the charcoal to burn until all the charcoal is covered with a thin layer of gray ash) and add to the grill, creating a two-level fire by spreading the coals out over half the grill bottom, piling them up in a mound 3 briquettes high, leaving the other half with no coals.
• Gently remove the dough from the bowl and divide in 4 pieces. Shape the pieces into rounds and let them rest on a sheet pan, covered with a clean side towel, for 30 minutes.
• Stretch and shape each piece of dough into a large rectangle or circle on a flat surface. Brush the tops of each with the some olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on the grill directly over the coals, oiled-side down, and grill until lightly golden brown, about 1 minute. Flip over and grill for 1 minute longer. Remove from the grill and arrange the taleggio over the top. Then dollop on some ricotta and sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano. Return to the grill on the opposite side (for indirect grilling). Cover and grill until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Top each pizza with the arugula and drizzle with truffle oil.

Steps:

• Divide the dough into 4 equal parts. Dust a board with the flour and roll each ball of dough into roughly a 6-inch round. Heat the oil in a medium skillet set over medium heat, about 3 minutes to get it hot. Add one of the dough rounds to the hot pan. When the dough begins to bubble on the top and the bottom is golden brown, flip to cook the other side, 2 minutes per side. Remove the crust from the pan to a plate and sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the Parmigiano-Reggiano evenly over the whole surface. Sprinkle with some of the lemon zest and a few of the thyme leaves. Drape 4 slices of the mortadella over the pizza. Repeat with the remaining pizza dough, and then serve.

Steps:

• Place water in a large bowl. Water should be warm but not hot to the touch. Stir in the yeast and allow to dissolve. Stir in 1 cup flour, stirring constantly in the same direction. Stir in another cup flour, then stir 100 times in the same direction (one minute). This helps develop the gluten. You now have a sponge. Cover, and let stand for half an hour or up to three hours. When you are ready to continue, sprinkle on salt and oil, then add more flour, stirring it in a half cup at a time. The dough will be getting heavier and harder to stir. When you can stir no longer, flour a kneading surface well and have more flour handy beside your work surface. Turn dough out and knead, adding extra flour to your work surface as necessary to prevent the dough from sticking. The dough will gradually become smooth and easy to work. Knead for 10 minutes, clean bread bowl, oil it lightly, and place the ball of dough into the bowl to rise, covered with plastic wrap. Let rise until more than doubled, almost three hours. When the volume of the dough has approximately doubled, you can proceed to the next step.
• Dough can be made ahead to this point and then stored. If you wish postpone baking, gently push dough down, and leave covered in the bowl to rise again. If delay will be more than several hours, instead store dough in a plastic bag in the refrigerator (for not more than five days). Bring out of the cold and take out of the plastic bag at least an hour before you want to work with it.Lightly flour your work surface and lightly oil a 12 by 18-inch baking sheet. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Turn dough out onto work surface and flatten with the lightly floured palm of your hand. Pull and stretch the dough gently out into the rectangular shape you need to fit your baking sheet. Take your time and give the dough time to rest if it is resisting stretching. It will need to get quite thin. When you have stretched the dough to approximately the shape and size you need, transfer it to baking sheet and continue to gently press and stretch it to fit. Don't worry if it tears, just patch the hole with another piece of dough and press firmly to join the edges. If you have extra dough hanging over the edge, trim it off and use it to make another small pizza. Dough should be of an even thinness across the flat part of the baking sheet and should form a slight rounded rim as it meets the edge (which is for many people the best part of the pizza).
• Brush top of pizza with oil, then dimple the surface all over with your fingers. Sprinkle garlic, sea salt and then optional rosemary leaves. Place baking sheet on the bottom rack of the preheated oven and bake until the crust around the edge is slightly golden, 5 to 8 minutes, depending on how thin the pizza is. Remove from oven, brush crusts lightly with olive oil and also the center if you wish. Cut into large squares and serve warm or hot. We have often made pizza bianca several hours ahead, then wrapped it in a clean kitchen towel to keep it moist until we are ready to reheat it for serving. To reheat, place in a dampened paper bag in a 300 degree F oven for about 10 minutes.

Steps:

• Combine flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse until well combined. Add yeast and pulse again. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 1/2 cups room temperature water. Process for 15 seconds, scrape down sides. Process 15 seconds more, until mixture is thoroughly combined. Mixture will be very wet, sticky, and fluid.
• Coat a large bowl with 1/2 tablespoon olive oil. Scrape dough into bowl with spatula and toss in oil. Flip dough over and top with another 1/2 tablespoon oil.
• Cover with plastic, then a towel, and let rise in a warm area until almost tripled in volume, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Alternately, before rising you can refrigerate the dough overnight. Let come to room temperature the next day, then let rise until almost tripled in volume, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Meanwhile, move a rack to middle of oven and place pizza stone or an inverted double stack of baking sheets on top. Preheat oven to 500°F for at least 1 hour before baking.
• Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment and sprinkle with flour. Scrape dough onto parchment and stretch dough to outer corners of baking sheet, creating a rectangle. If dough stretches back, allow to rest 5 to 10 minutes before stretching again. Once rectangle is formed, allow to rest 5 to 10 minutes until slightly puffed. Stipple the surface using fingertips, then use a fork to prick the dough all over, 20 to 30 times. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil and sprinkle with rosemary.
• Bake 5 minutes until firm, remove pan, slide pizza from parchment onto a pizza peel or cutting board, and slide back onto pizza stone. Discard parchment. Bake until golden brown and crispy, 8 to 12 minutes more.
• Transfer to a cutting board, then cut into slices. Drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt, and serve immediately.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Lightly dust a work surface, rolling pin, and a baking sheet with flour. Roll dough out to a 13-inch round and transfer to sheet.
• In a small bowl, stir together ricotta, 1 tablespoon oil, and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Spread ricotta mixture on dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Top with mozzarella, then Parmesan. Brush 1 teaspoon oil on edge of dough. Bake until crust is golden and cheese is melted and browned in spots, 12 to 14 minutes. In a small bowl, toss arugula with 1 teaspoon oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Top pizza with arugula and serve.

Steps:

• Place towel under stand mixer to prevent wobbling. Mix flour, water and table salt in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook, on low speed, until no dry flour remains, 3-4 min, scraping sides and bottom of bowl occasionally. Stop mixer and allow to stand 20 minutes.
• Sprinkle yeast and sugar over dough. Knead on low speed until fully combined, 1-2 minutes. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl, then turn speed up to high and knead until dough is glossy, smooth and pulls away from sides of bowl, 6-10 minutes. (Dough will only pull away while mixer is running; once mixer is stopped, it will fall back to sides.).
• Smear large bowl with 1 tbsp olive oil with fingers, scraping excess onto a rubber spatula. Use oiled spatula to transfer dough to oiled bowl. Pour 1 tbsp oil over dough. Flip dough once to cover thoroughly with oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to rise at room temperature until nearly tripled in size, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
• One hour before dough is ready, place oven rack in the middle of the over and position pizza stone on rack. Heat oven to 450.
• When dough is risen, coat rimmed baking sheet or jelly roll pan with 2 tbsp oil. Using rubber spatula, turn dough out onto sheet, along with any oil in bowl. Use fingertips to spread dough to edges of pan, being careful not to tear it. (Dough will not reach corners snugly. If dough resists stretching, allow it to rest 5-10 minutes before trying again.) Let dough rest in pan 5-10 minutes, until bubbly. Prick surface 30-40 times with dinner fork. Sprinkle with kosher salt.
• Bake 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle top with rosemary and rotate pan, then bake another 10-15 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer to cutting board and brush with remaining 1 tbsp olive oil. Slice and serve immediately.