White Pizza

I took a couple weeks off from pizza Friday. I don’t know if it was because I was just feeling lazy or if I had too many other things that I wanted to make, but this was the perfect recipe to bring it back.

I’ve made a change to how I bake pizza. I used to assemble it on a sheet of parchment and slide the parchment onto the pizza stone, but I’ve heard that the paper keeps the crust from getting as crisp as it should because it traps steam, so now I sprinkle a LOT of cornmeal on a cookie sheet…

put all the toppings on…

then slide the dough directly onto the stone. Because of the cornmeal it doesn’t stick at all, and the crust ends up perfectly crisp every time. Plus there’s no paper to throw away. Yay.

To get it out of the oven, you just slide a cookie sheet under the cooked crust and pull it out.

I really am not picky when it comes to pizza… especially these days that I’m a human vacuum (pregnancy + marathon training = an appetite that doesn’t quit), but this pizza is definitely a step above the average cheese pizza. The second time I tried it, I mixed some chopped spinach mixed into the sauce, but it’s absolutely perfect just as written. I didn’t change the recipe too mcuh, but I did use blended cottage cheese in place of heavy cream because I happened to have it in the fridge (and I guess it makes it a TINY bit healthier, but come on, there are 3 different kinds of cheese in action here so healthy obviously isn’t the first concern). I also used dried thyme and oregano instead of fresh, and skipped the scallions.

It definitely goes well with red pepper flakes (lots of them!)

Aaaaand look what appeared pretty much overnight. I’m 17 weeks and 1 day, and all of the sudden I actually look like I have a bump! I think it’s time to start taking weekly pictures now…
Now I’m kind of scared how big I’ll be in 3 weeks when I’m running Boston, but I guess I’ll just have to do my best! I did my 20 mile run yesterday and I’m officially in taper mode. SOOO EXCITED!

Recipe:
(adapted from Cooks Illustrated via Pink Parsley)

makes 2 pizzas

dough for 2 10″ pizzas (I usually use this recipe)

sauce
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta
2 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs heavy cream (or pureed cottage cheese – it sounds strange but it works)
1/2 large egg yolk
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
pinch cayenne pepper
pinch nutmeg
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried thyme

topping
1 cup shredded whole milk mozzarella
1/2 cup finely shredded parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven with a pizza stone in it (if you have one) to 500 F.

Stir together all sauce ingredients and set aside.

Make sure your dough is at room temperature. Sprinkle a few tablespoons of cornmeal on a rimless cookie sheet and shape half the dough into a 10-inch circle. Gently set it on the cornmeal, then spread with half the sauce. Shake the pan to make sure the crust isn’t sticking, and add a little cornmeal if needed.

Sprinkle some mozzarella and parmesan over the sauce, then slide the pizza onto the stone (or bake on the cookie sheet if you don’t have a pizza stone). Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until the cheese is brown and bubbly. Cool for at least 5 minutes before cutting into slices. Repeat with remaining dough, sauce, and cheese.