Pizza Bianca | Roman “White Pizza” Recipe

This focaccia-style “white pizza” is a classic in Rome, where it’s usually sliced open and stuffed with mortadella to make the mouth-watering pizza e mortazza. You can, of course, use it with any sandwich filling you like!

Like all proper pizza dough recipes, the flour makes a big difference. At the very least use bread flour or, better yet, try to find a high-protein flour with at least 13–14% protein content. All-purpose flour will always yield poor results here!

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Pizza Bianca Recipe

Makes: 1 tray (about 6 to 8 sandwiches)

Cook Time: At least 8 hours, preferably overnight, largely unattended

For this recipe, you will need:

• 2 ½ cups (300 grams) bread or Manitoba flour
• ¼ teaspoon (1 gram) active dry yeast
• 1 cup (240 milliliters) water
• 1 ¼ teaspoons (7 grams) salt
• Extra-virgin olive oil, as needed
  

Mix the flour and yeast in a large bowl. Pour in ½ cup (120 ml) of water and mix thoroughly with a spoon. Add the salt and the remaining water, and mix again until the flour is completely saturated and a sticky dough forms (you may need to add a little more water in drier climates). Cover the bowl and let the dough rest at room temperature for 20 minutes.

Wet your hands to prevent the dough from sticking, gather the dough from the sides of the bowl, and fold it in half three or four times. Once again, cover the dough, let it rest for 20 more minutes, then fold it with wet hands. Finally, cover the bowl and let the dough rest in the fridge for at least 4 to 5 hours, preferably overnight.

After the dough has rested in the fridge, let it warm at room temperature for about 2 hours.

Fold the dough once again—at this point, it should be very soft and smooth. Brush a large sheet pan (about 15 × 10 inches, or similar) with olive oil. Place the dough in the center of the tray and brush it with some more olive oil on top. Cover the tray with plastic wrap, and let the dough rise for 1 to 1 ½ hours.

Remove the plastic wrap and drizzle some more olive oil on top of the dough, then spread it gently using the tips of your fingers until the dough fills the tray. Cover the tray with plastic wrap again and let it rest for an additional 15 to 20 minutes. While the dough rests, preheat your oven to 480ºF (250ºC).

Remove the plastic and bake the pizza for 7 to 8 minutes on the bottom rack of your oven, then move it to the top rack and bake for another 5 minutes or until the top is a light golden brown.

Remove the pizza from the oven. For best results, slice and serve warm. The pizza can be frozen and reheated later.

Buon appetito!