Potato and rosemary pizza bianca
Makes 2 pizzas · 25 hours 35 minutes · Pizza steel
A white pizza with no tomato sauce, topped with paper-thin potato, mozzarella and rosemary on a cold-proved base. The pizza steel gives a blistered, leopard-spotted crust in 6–8 minutes in a home oven.
Potato pizza bianca is a white pizza where garlic oil replaces the tomato sauce and thinly sliced potato, mozzarella and rosemary crisp up in the oven. It is best made with dough that has proved slowly in the fridge for a day and a pizza steel preheated for at least 45 minutes.
Ingredients
Makes 2 pizzas
Dough
- 300 g flour, ideally tipo 00
- 200 ml cold water
- ¼ tsp fast-action dried yeast
- 1½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Topping
- 2 garlic cloves
- 3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to serve
- 300 g waxy potatoes
- ½ tsp salt
- 125 g mozzarella
- 20 g grated Parmesan or other hard cheese
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- A little flour or semolina for the peel
Method
- The day before, mix the flour, yeast and water. Add the salt and olive oil and knead to a smooth, supple dough, 8–10 minutes. Put it in an oiled lidded container and refrigerate for 24 hours.
- Divide the dough into two balls, cover and leave at room temperature for 1 hour. Meanwhile, put the pizza steel on the second-highest shelf and heat the oven to its maximum, 250–275 °C. Preheat for 45–60 minutes.
- Crush the garlic into the olive oil. Slice the potatoes paper-thin, ideally on a mandoline, and toss with 1 tbsp of the garlic oil and the salt. Leave for 10 minutes, then pat dry with kitchen paper. Tear the mozzarella into pieces and let it drain.
- Stretch one ball of dough into a thin base, about 30 cm, on a floured pizza peel. Brush with garlic oil, scatter over half the mozzarella and lay the potato slices overlapping. Sprinkle with rosemary needles and half the Parmesan.
- Shake the pizza off the peel onto the steel and bake for 6–8 minutes until the crust is blistered and charred in spots and the potatoes are golden at the edges. Switch on the grill for the last minute if the top needs more colour.
- Finish with flaky salt, black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil and cut with the pizza cutter. Let the steel reheat for 5 minutes before baking the second pizza.
Why it works
Carbon steel conducts heat faster than a pizza stone and gives the base the strong bottom heat a domestic oven lacks. That is why the crust puffs and blisters in minutes, before the potatoes dry out.
FAQ
Do you need to par-boil potatoes for pizza?
No, if they are sliced paper-thin they soften as the pizza bakes. Slices thicker than 2 mm will not cook through in time.
Can I make the dough on the same day?
Yes, use 1 tsp dried yeast and let the dough rise for 2 hours at room temperature. The flavour is milder and the crust a little less airy.
What temperature for a pizza steel?
As hot as your oven goes, usually 250–275 °C, with the steel preheated for 45–60 minutes. Place it high in the oven so the top gets heat too.
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