Need help with making a white pizza

[ellencho]

So I'm a Philly transplant from NY and I miss NY pizzas so much! I especially miss white pizzas, the kind with mozzarella and ricotta. For a couple years now I've been making my own pizzas at home with my beloved pizza stone, and I can't belive I never once considered making my own white pizza until now.

So this is my dilemma - since my oven gets pretty hot ~550 our pizzas don't take long to bake at all and I'm concerned about the ricotta mixture not firming up enough underneath the mozzarella cheese that I plan to top it with. Any suggestions? I don't have an actual recipe, I was sort of planning on flying by the seat of my pants.

Edited March 2, 2004 by ellencho (log)

[jabolster]

Now you've gone and done it. I've been craving a good NY white pizza for ages. The only suggestion I have would be to allow the riccota to drain, possibly through cheesecloth, in a colander before using. This should allow it to get firm without losing any flavor. Let me know how it comes out.

[KatieLoeb]

So I'm a Philly transplant from NY and I miss NY pizzas so much! I especially miss white pizzas, the kind with mozzarella and ricotta. For a couple years now I've been making my own pizzas at home with my beloved pizza stone, and I can't belive I never once considered making my own white pizza until now.

So this is my dilemma - since my oven gets pretty hot ~550 our pizzas don't take long to bake at all and I'm concerned about the ricotta mixture not firming up enough underneath the mozzarella cheese that I plan to top it with. Any suggestions? I don't have an actual recipe, I was sort of planning on flying by the seat of my pants.

Ellen:

Where've you been for Pizza Club?!?!? Please check out the photos in the PA forum HERE as well as the descriptions of the awesome pizzas we've been having fairly regulary. There are a couple of white pizzas in there that would be enviable models.

Perhaps the pizzaolos of some of the pizzerias we've visited would be willing to share a tip or two if you called them?

[ellencho]

Thanks for the link KatieLoeb. I've had pizza a handful of times since I moved here, and admittedly, the majority have been crap - just dough with cheese and sauce on it. It's good to know there isn't a dearth of good pizza around - one just needs to know where to look. When I lived in Ardmore, there's a place in town, Felicia's Brick Oven Pizza which serves some excellent pizza. Good texture, good sauce, only problem is that they're not always consistent - it occasionally bland. That's why I began to make my own pizza at home.

Edited March 2, 2004 by ellencho (log)

[Jason Perlow]

White Pizza needs a ton of garlic and olive oil to taste good. It also needs salt.

[Msk]

You could add an egg to the ricotta mixture too to help bind it.

Msk

[ellencho]

Hee, I was actually considering roasting up some garlic cloves, mashing them up and mixing that up with some egg and ricotta.

[mrbigjas]

Thanks for the link KatieLoeb. I've had pizza a handful of times since I moved here, and admittedly, the majority have been crap - just dough with cheese and sauce on it. It's good to know there isn't a dearth of good pizza around - one just needs to know where to look. When I lived in Ardmore, there's a place in town, Felicia's Brick Oven Pizza which serves some excellent pizza. Good texture, good sauce, only problem is that they're not always consistent - it occasionally bland. That's why I began to make my own pizza at home.

My general rule about pizza in Philadelphia is that Greek = bad. God knows I love Greek food but Greek pizza--which is almost every place in Fairmount and many in Center City as well--is just what you describe.

Re the cooking, I agree with the others about draining the ricotta well before using it.

[ellencho]

Oo wee, tonight's white pizza was excellent. I even daresay I'd rather eat my own white pizza than NYC white pizza! My SO was full from the two other pizzas that I had made earlier, but when he tasted a bit of the white pizza he had three more slices himself.

This is what I did. I roasted up a couple garlic cloves in olive oil, mashed them up on my cutting board. Mixed the garlic with an egg, fresh parsley and basil, parmesean cheese, salt and pepper, and the ricotta (which was pretty dry so I didn't have to drain it). I spread a thin layer of that over my pizza dough (Cook's Illustrated's recipe) and topped it with fresh mozz, smoked mozz and mushrooms.

Put it in my rip roaring hot oven, and left it in for 15 minutes. Deelicious.

THe flavors melded really well together. Especially the garlic - which added a mellowness and richness to my pizza. Hee - and no bad breath.

Thanks for all your suggestions guys!

[ingridsf]

Sounds like you've got it all under control but now I have a question. The white pizza I remember from DC and CT was made with fontina, with maybe a little mozz to make it go farther. Anybody else encountered the elusive pizza bianca I remember?

[Samhill]

Rosemary potato pizza, in order.

Crust, olive oil, crushed garlic, frozen hash brown potatos, dried rosemary, ricotta, mozzarella.

Bake.

That's the basic version.

Never had it with Fontina, my favorite cheese, sounds good!

[Suzanne F]

Otto has a funghi-and-Taleggio pizza that is pretty damn good.

My guess is that almost any meltable cheese would work -- just depends on what flavor you want. Of course, the cheese has to be able to take high heat without separating.

Hmm, I've got several pizza doughs available -- this calls for some experimentation.