Saturday, May 2, 2009

Pizza Bianco (White Pizza)



This has become our Friday night staple for the last 5 months or so. I totally happened upon it by accident, too -- which can be a wonderful thing in the food world. You see, there are several grocery items that I always always have in my pantry. Tomato paste is one of them. I make my own sauces for things like spaghetti, lasagna, and stuffed shells. I have for years and I don't plan on changing that anytime soon so we always have tomato paste around.

So imagine my surprise one Friday night when I already had my pizza dough rising and went to make my sauce, but we were out of tomato paste! I had just left a message for my hubby to pick some up on his way home when I thought, "White Pizza!" After looking at a few recipes online, I concocted my own spinoff and we have seriously been eating it every week since.

I make my own dough as well so the whole she-bang is on here for you! You can make the dough first and then make the sauce while the dough rises, or make the sauce whenever and just keep it in the fridge until you are ready for it. I'm starting with the sauce!



Here's what you need for the white sauce:

minced garlic, salt, pepper, onion powder, oregano, corn starch, milk, parmesan cheese


Start by throwing about a tablespoon and a half of minced garlic in a saucepan (medium-low heat) with just a teaspoon or so of olive oil. The oil is optional, but I don't like to let garlic saute by itself, just doesn't seem right to me.


Once you can smell the garlic (2-3 minutes?), throw in half a teaspoon of salt, pepper, and onion powder and a whole teaspoon of dried oregano:




Then chuck in a tablespoon of corn starch:


Mix it up, it will clump:


Then add a cup of milk and 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese and stir together, turning up the heat to medium-high:




It will take about 5 minutes before it starts bubbling and thickening:


And another 2-3 minutes before it's done. You'll see it's quite thick and slightly brown:



Take it off the heat and let it cool and you're done! This makes 1 or 2 pizzas, depending on how much sauce you like on your pie. Now onto the dough! This dough is SUPER EASY, so please try it at least once. I would be so sad to find out my pizza sauce got spread on a Boboli crust or something!

Pizza Dough:

This makes 1 pizza.

In your mixer bowl; dump 2 teaspoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 pack (or 2 teaspoons) active dry yeast.


Pour in 1 cup of warm water:


Stir and let it sit for a few minutes, until the dough activates (looks kinds foamy):


By hand, mix in 2 cups of flour, dough should be coming together, but still a bit wet:


Then add 1 more cup of flour and, using your dough hook, let it mix up until...


...it all sticks together and you have a still slightly tacky dough.


Next, I normally grab a small handful of flour and knead it in by hand just a few times until the dough is firm and disc-shaped.

Then cover it and leave it for 45 minutes or so. It will rise, I promise!



Dough; meet lightly floured surface:


To make a near perfect pizza dough circle, start by rolling the dough once vertically and then once horizontally.


Repeat, alternating between the two until you have enough dough to peek out of the sides when you put your pizza pan over it:


Then gently pick up your dough and put it on a well greased pizza pan so that you have some hanging over the sides:


Then simply fold the overlapping dough under to form your crust!


See? Wasn't that hard now, was it?!



Now let's bring together our dough and sauce and finish this baby up!



Plunk down your sauce in the middle of your dough while your oven preheats to 400:


Spread it out evenly using a spatula, or the back of a spoon:




Now you can start adding your cheese! I used mozzerella, but I have used Mexican Blend before and cannot WAIT to use provolone, since it's my favorite:




Now pop it in your oven!


Watch it melt...


But don't stop there! Once the cheese and crust are slightly brown, like this:


Gently slip it off the pizza pan and onto the bottom rack of your oven. This will help the bottom of your crust get nice and crispy!


It won't take long, but once it is slightly more browned, like the pic below, you are good to go!



Pull it out and wait a few minutes, which may not be possible, I've been there many times...


Then slice it up and enjoy! You may never want a regular pizza again!





5 comments:

  1. Wow, now I'm convinced you're not the "normal" one! :) Love the play by play pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Katie, I am home with a sick Nate today... finally had time to check out your blog and love it!!! For your dough, what kind of flour do you use; plain, self-rising, or can I use wheat?
    Thanks,
    Angela

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Angela! I use all purpose flour. Hope Nate feels better!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh Gosh that looks so good! I'm loving your blog!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ok, I cooked your pizza tonight...good, very good! Did the sauce w/ my homemad dough from a packet, not enought time to try your homemade dough, will have to wait for another time. BUT anyway, a nice switch!!!
    Thanks Katie!
    Angela

    ReplyDelete