Best Pizza Bianca With Rosemary And Sea Salt Recipes

SEA SALT AND ROSEMARY PIZZA BIANCA BITES WITH MORTADELLA AND MOZZARELLA

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup warm water in a bowl; add sugar, stir, and let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes.
• Mix 3 1/2 cups flour with rosemary and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Pour the yeast mixture into flour mixture; slowly add 11 ounces warm water and mix until dough holds together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
• Grease a large glass bowl with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Place dough in the bowl, turning once to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place into a cool oven with the oven light on until dough has doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Line a rimless baking sheet with parchment paper. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons flour over parchment paper. Turn risen dough onto the parchment paper and flatten it gently with your hands, forming a 9x13-inch rectangle.
• Place baking sheet into the oven, with the oven light on, until dough has risen, another 1 1/2 hours.
• Drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over dough and top with coarse sea salt.
• Position your oven rack slightly lower than center, and place a baking stone on the rack.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Gently slide the parchment off of the sheet pan and onto the baking stone.
• Bake dough in the preheated oven for 8 minutes. Gently lift the crust using a pizza peel or large spatula and pull the parchment paper out so that the crust is directly on the baking stone.
• Continue to bake until crust is golden brown, 15 to 16 minutes more. Transfer crust to a cooling rack to cool completely, at least 30 minutes.
• Slice the crust into small squares. Cut each square in half horizontally so that you have a top and a bottom. Fold a mortadella slice in half and then in half again; place on top of the pizza bottom. Layer a basil leaf on top of mortadella and top with a mozzarella slice. Add the pizza top and secure with an appetizer pick. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

GARLIC-ROSEMARY PIZZA BIANCA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place garlic and rosemary in a heatproof dish, and drizzle with oil. Cover, and roast until garlic has softened, about 40 minutes. Transfer garlic to a plate. Pour garlic-rosemary oil through a sieve into a bowl, discard rosemary, and let cool.
• Meanwhile, put flour, 2 1/2 teaspoons salt, the yeast, and water into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix on low speed 5 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually raise speed to high, kneading until dough is shiny, sticky, and elastic, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer dough to a large oiled glass bowl, and cover with plastic. Let rise in a warm, draft-free place until tripled in bulk, about 2 1/2 hours. (Dough will be light and airy.)
• Turn out dough onto a well-floured work surface. With floured hands, turn dough over a couple of times, and divide in half. Working with 1 portion at a time, stretch into a 14-by-5-inch rectangle, and starting at 1 short end, roll into an oval log. Brush logs generously with garlic-rosemary oil, using about 2 tablespoons per log. Sprinkle each with 3/4 teaspoon salt. Let rise in a warm, draft-free place for 45 minutes.
• Put a 14-inch pizza stone into oven, and heat oven to 500 degrees.
• Sprinkle 2 tablespoons cornmeal over a pizza peel, and lay a piece of dough on top. Using your fingers, dent and stretch dough in several places to form a 12-by-4-inch oval. Drizzle garlic-rosemary oil into dimples but not too close to edge of dough. Carefully slide onto preheated stone, stretching as you pull out the peel. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake until golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool slightly. Cut crosswise into slices, and serve with roasted garlic, garlic-rosemary oil or olive oil, and salt.

PIZZA BIANCA

Steps:

• Combine flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse until well combined. Add yeast and pulse again. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 1/2 cups room temperature water. Process for 15 seconds, scrape down sides. Process 15 seconds more, until mixture is thoroughly combined. Mixture will be very wet, sticky, and fluid.
• Coat a large bowl with 1/2 tablespoon olive oil. Scrape dough into bowl with spatula and toss in oil. Flip dough over and top with another 1/2 tablespoon oil.
• Cover with plastic, then a towel, and let rise in a warm area until almost tripled in volume, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Alternately, before rising you can refrigerate the dough overnight. Let come to room temperature the next day, then let rise until almost tripled in volume, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Meanwhile, move a rack to middle of oven and place pizza stone or an inverted double stack of baking sheets on top. Preheat oven to 500°F for at least 1 hour before baking.
• Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment and sprinkle with flour. Scrape dough onto parchment and stretch dough to outer corners of baking sheet, creating a rectangle. If dough stretches back, allow to rest 5 to 10 minutes before stretching again. Once rectangle is formed, allow to rest 5 to 10 minutes until slightly puffed. Stipple the surface using fingertips, then use a fork to prick the dough all over, 20 to 30 times. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil and sprinkle with rosemary.
• Bake 5 minutes until firm, remove pan, slide pizza from parchment onto a pizza peel or cutting board, and slide back onto pizza stone. Discard parchment. Bake until golden brown and crispy, 8 to 12 minutes more.
• Transfer to a cutting board, then cut into slices. Drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt, and serve immediately.

PIZZA BIANCA

Steps:

• When the dough is ready, knead it lightly, form it into a ball, and divide it into 2 balls if you like; roll each piece into a round ball and place each ball on a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle with a little more flour, cover with plastic wrap or a towel, and let rest while you preheat the oven.
• Preheat the oven to 500°F or higher. Roll or lightly press each dough ball into a flat round, lightly flouring the work surface and the dough as necessary (do not use more flour than you need to). Let the rounds sit for a few minutes; this will relax the dough and make it easier to roll out. If you have a peel and baking stone, roll or pat out the dough on the peel, as thin as you like, turning occasionally and sprinkling it with flour as necessary. If you are using baking sheets, oil them, then press each dough ball into a flat round directly on the oiled sheets. Then roll or pat out the dough, as thin as you like, flouring or oiling your hands if necessary.
• Top with salt and sprinkle with the rosemary-decorate with the sprigs if you like-then drizzle with a little more olive oil, and slide the baking sheet into the oven on a rack set in the middle (or the pizza itself onto the stone, which should be set on a lower rack). Bake for 6 to 12 minutes, depending on the oven heat, until nicely browned. Serve immediately or at room temperature (these will keep for a few hours).
• Top the pies with sliced fresh tomato, extra virgin olive oil, a little mozzarella, preferably fresh, some fresh basil leaves, salt, and Parmesan cheese.
• Top the pies with sliced fresh tomatoes, thinly sliced garlic (or Fast, Fresh Tomato Sauce, page 606), extra virgin olive oil, and, if you like, a few anchovy fillets.

PIZZA WITH ROSEMARY AND GARLIC (PIZZA BIANCA)

Steps:

• Place water in a large bowl. Water should be warm but not hot to the touch. Stir in the yeast and allow to dissolve. Stir in 1 cup flour, stirring constantly in the same direction. Stir in another cup flour, then stir 100 times in the same direction (one minute). This helps develop the gluten. You now have a sponge. Cover, and let stand for half an hour or up to three hours. When you are ready to continue, sprinkle on salt and oil, then add more flour, stirring it in a half cup at a time. The dough will be getting heavier and harder to stir. When you can stir no longer, flour a kneading surface well and have more flour handy beside your work surface. Turn dough out and knead, adding extra flour to your work surface as necessary to prevent the dough from sticking. The dough will gradually become smooth and easy to work. Knead for 10 minutes, clean bread bowl, oil it lightly, and place the ball of dough into the bowl to rise, covered with plastic wrap. Let rise until more than doubled, almost three hours. When the volume of the dough has approximately doubled, you can proceed to the next step.
• Dough can be made ahead to this point and then stored. If you wish postpone baking, gently push dough down, and leave covered in the bowl to rise again. If delay will be more than several hours, instead store dough in a plastic bag in the refrigerator (for not more than five days). Bring out of the cold and take out of the plastic bag at least an hour before you want to work with it.Lightly flour your work surface and lightly oil a 12 by 18-inch baking sheet. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Turn dough out onto work surface and flatten with the lightly floured palm of your hand. Pull and stretch the dough gently out into the rectangular shape you need to fit your baking sheet. Take your time and give the dough time to rest if it is resisting stretching. It will need to get quite thin. When you have stretched the dough to approximately the shape and size you need, transfer it to baking sheet and continue to gently press and stretch it to fit. Don't worry if it tears, just patch the hole with another piece of dough and press firmly to join the edges. If you have extra dough hanging over the edge, trim it off and use it to make another small pizza. Dough should be of an even thinness across the flat part of the baking sheet and should form a slight rounded rim as it meets the edge (which is for many people the best part of the pizza).
• Brush top of pizza with oil, then dimple the surface all over with your fingers. Sprinkle garlic, sea salt and then optional rosemary leaves. Place baking sheet on the bottom rack of the preheated oven and bake until the crust around the edge is slightly golden, 5 to 8 minutes, depending on how thin the pizza is. Remove from oven, brush crusts lightly with olive oil and also the center if you wish. Cut into large squares and serve warm or hot. We have often made pizza bianca several hours ahead, then wrapped it in a clean kitchen towel to keep it moist until we are ready to reheat it for serving. To reheat, place in a dampened paper bag in a 300 degree F oven for about 10 minutes.