Add a salad for a complete meal!
White Pizza
Growing up in an Italian-American town, the tantalizing smells of pizza, rich in tomato sauce and cheeses is fragrant in my memories. Even our public high school lunches were amazingly delicious with Sicilian grandmas cooking and serving us generous portions of fabulous Italian pastas, meats and veggies.
Thus, when I had to adhere to a low acid diet and stop tomatoes, I felt bereft. It seemed that tomatoes were in so many beloved recipes. (And they were!) Then I heard of White Pizzas. I was skeptical. How would this taste? Much to my surprise it was similar to focaccia and I was won over by the same smell of yeast and dough, melted cheeses and whatever veggies you wanted to throw on top. As I am beginning to reintroduce a bit of tomato into my diet, I sliced Roma tomatoes very thin and placed them on top of the fresh mozzarella rounds. Using fresh ingredients always adds to the flavor and is worth the effort but if in a rush, use dried herbs and grated mozzarella. Fresh herbs are available in most grocery stores if you aren’t fortunate enough to have an herb garden, which can be as small as a big pot!
The White Pizza was so good!! And I didn’t even miss the tomato sauce.
Bring all the hostages home.
Foodie Lit
A main setting in The Color of Cold and Ice is an eccentric Coffee Shop that is a place of healing as well as delicious food. The strong characters and compelling plot are presented with an imaginative writing style that is influenced by author Jerri Shlenker’s background in art. Many of the characters change course in their lives because of a dream or a compelling intuition about what path is the best one to take, despite difficulties or obstacles. This is not the first book of Jerri’s that I have read—she is a writer whose books are wonderful to read and I am a fan! This would be a terrific book club choice.
White Pizza
#Italian #Vegetarian #Pizza #Vegetarian #GERD
Yield: 2 pizzas
Olive Oil Mixture for Crust
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Pizza Crust
2 1/2 teaspoons dry active yeast or 1 package
1 cup warm water
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2-3 cuts bread or high gluten flour
Toppings
3-4 sprigs basil
3-4 sprigs oregano
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 logs mozzarella, sliced
3 Roma tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
-
Sauté the shallot in the warmed olive oil over a medium heat for 3 minutes or until the shallot is translucent. Add the garlic and sauté another 2 minutes, stirring to keep from overly browning. Remove from stove and reserve.
-
Preheat the oven to 425F or C.
-
Crust: Sprinkle yeast over warm water. The water should be warm to your wrist. Allow the yeast to proof, that is to bubble a bit. This way you will know that the yeast is active. You should see the bubbles within 1-2 minutes. Add the salt, olive oil and 1 1/2 cups of flour. Stir together, adding flour as needed to make the ingredients come together into a dough. Place a bit of flour on a clean counter or table and turn out the dough onto the surface. Knead, incorporating more flour as needed, until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5-7 minutes. Cover and let rest for 10. The dough will have risen a bit.
-
Divide the dough in half and rollout pizza dough into a circle or your desired shape, about 1 1/2” larger than the diameter of your pizza pan. Sprinkle cornmeal on the bottom of each pan. Place the dough on each, stretching where you need to fill all the spaces on the pan. Crimp the edges attractively. With a fork, prick the surface of the dough. This keeps bubbles from forming.
-
With a pastry brush or spoon, brush the olive oil mixture on the surface of the crusts. Bake on the upper shelf of the oven for 5-6 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven.
-
Turn oven up to 425F. Take each mozzarella slice and place next to each other on the crust. Fill the surface of the crust, cutting the slices in half to fill smaller areas. Thinly slice the tomatoes and place on a paper towel, lightly salt and let sit for 2-3 minutes. Pat dry. Place the tomato slices on top of the mozzarella rounds.
-
Remove the basil and oregano leaves from the stems. Chop and evenly distribute on top of the cheese and tomatoes. Grind fresh pepper of top, as much as desired.
-
Sprinkle parmesan cheese around the edges of the crust and on top of the pizza.
-
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cheese is melted and there is no liquid on top.
-
Serve immediately.
-
Pizza can be refrigerated for several day, covered in the refrigerator. To freeze, let pizza come to room temperature. Slice as desired. Completely wrap each piece in plastic wrap and then place in freeze proof bag or container. Label and freeze for up to 3 months. When removing from the freezer, let defrost a bit. Reheat in oven, toaster oven or microwave.
Expandthetable suggestions
Add mushrooms: Add mushrooms of choice or mixed, such as button, portobello, shitake, cremini or porcini. Sauté in olive oil before adding under or on top of mozzarella.
Romano Cheese: For a slightly sharper taste, substitute or combine Romano with the Parmesan.
Other veggies: Sauté or roast your favorite vegetables and add on top of the cheese and put back into the oven.
Crusts: Buy a ready made crust for a speedy meal.
