For our Friday Night homemade pizza this week, we are foregoing the sauce and making a white pizza. While I love the sauce that Eric makes to put on our pizzas, (and over pasta) I also like white pizza – those pies with no tomato sauce on them and lots of varieties of cheeses.
Four Cheese White Pizza with Spinach
Four Cheese Pizza Bianca with Spinach (adapted from bhg.com) Prep Time: 30 minutes, Bake Time: 15 minutes, Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 1 pound pizza dough, at room temperature
- sea salt, to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
- 6 ounces fresh baby spinach
- zest of 1/2 a lemon
- 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded provolone cheese
- 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Asiago cheese
- 3/4 cup (6 ounces) ricotta cheese
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
- cornmeal for pizza peel
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 475º F. Put the pizza stone in the oven or coat a 14-inch pizza pan with cooking spray, then set it aside.
In a medium nonstick skillet, toast the pine nuts over medium heat until they are fragrant, about 3 minutes. Remove them from the pan and set them aside.
Toast the pine nuts.
Turn the burner to medium-high heat and heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in the pan. Add the garlic, cooking and stirring for 30 seconds.
Add the garlic to the hot oil.
Gradually add the spinach to the pan.
Add the spinach to the garlic.
Cook it for about 2 minutes or just until it is wilted. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the lemon zest to the spinach mixture.
Wilt the spinach.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 14-inch circle. Transfer it to a cornmeal covered pizza peel or to the prepared pizza pan. Sprinkle sea salt to taste over the dough.
Ready for assembly!
In a medium bowl, combine the mozzarella, provolone, and Asiago cheeses. Sprinkle half of the cheese mixture over the dough.
Spread half the cheese over the dough.
Top the cheeses with the spinach mixture. Drizzle any oil and garlic remaining in the skillet over the spinach.
Add the spinach.
Add the remaining cheese mixture to the pizza. Top the pizza with spoonfuls of the ricotta cheese, then drizzle the pizza with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil.
Add the ricotta in clumps.
Bake the pizza for 12 to 15 minutes or until the crust is brown on the bottom. Sprinkle the pine nuts over top of the pizza, cut it into slices, and serve.
Pizza doesn’t always need sauce to be great!
Pizza can be flavorful even without the sauce! ~Linda
Four Cheese Pizza Bianca with Spinach (adapted from bhg.com) Prep Time: 30 minutes, Bake Time: 15 minutes, Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 1 pound pizza dough, at room temperature
- sea salt, to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
- 6 ounces fresh baby spinach
- zest of 1/2 a lemon
- 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded provolone cheese
- 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Asiago cheese
- 3/4 cup (6 ounces) ricotta cheese
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
- cornmeal for pizza peel
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 475º F. Put the pizza stone in the oven or coat a 14-inch pizza pan with cooking spray, then set it aside.
In a medium nonstick skillet, toast the pine nuts over medium heat until they are fragrant, about 3 minutes. Remove them from the pan and set them aside. Turn the burner to medium-high heat and heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in the pan. Add the garlic, cooking and stirring for 30 seconds. Gradually add the spinach to the pan. Cook it for about 2 minutes or just until it is wilted. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the lemon zest to the spinach mixture.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 14-inch circle. Sprinkle sea salt to taste over the dough. Transfer it to a cornmeal covered pizza peel or to the prepared pizza pan.
In a medium bowl, combine the mozzarella, provolone, and Asiago cheeses. Sprinkle half of the cheese mixture over the dough. Top the cheeses with the spinach mixture. Drizzle any oil and garlic remaining in the skillet over the spinach. Add the remaining cheese mixture to the pizza. Top the pizza with spoonfuls of the ricotta cheese, then drizzle the pizza with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil.
Bake the pizza for 12 to 15 minutes or until the crust is brown on the bottom. Sprinkle the pine nuts over top of the pizza, cut it into slices, and serve.