This pizza though … it’s been in my heart of hearts for a while now (as pizza does, right?). Without the usual tomato sauce the other flavours shine through like crazy. I cannot get enough of the thinly sliced garlic, zucchini, and thyme paired with the cheeses. I don’t often crave pizza (I know I’m a weirdo, let’s leave it there for now), but when I do it’s been this Bianca Pizza for some time now. I’m hoarding the leftovers so I can top it with an egg tomorrow for breakfast and I know it’s going to be the most glorious thing I eat all day.
Remember when I could rollout pizza dough into a nice round shape? No? Me neither. And I’m pretty sure it’s never going to happen. For the life of me I cannot get pizza dough to roll nicely into a circle. I always end up with some crazy misshapen pie of deliciousness. It tastes so good that it’s really not much of an issue for me and I’m willing to carry on posting crazy looking pizzas for you all to stare at.
This pizza uses 2 types of cheese which (I think) complement one and other quite nicely. The fresh mozzarella is gooey and smooth while the pecorino has a lovely salty flavour to the mix. The thinly sliced garlic, zucchini and thyme are like a trifecta of pizza gods that can shine down on me all day everyday.
I got the idea for this pizza from a local restaurant here in North Vancouver named Il Castello Pizzeria. It’s the only place we take our 3 very young kids to eat and this is one of my favourite pizzas that they offer. They add oregano to theirs, but I didn’t have any so feel free to add some on if you dig oregano. Their crust is nicely shaped unlike mine … in case you were wondering.
- 500 grams store-bought pizza dough
- Flour to roll out dough and dust baking sheet
- 1/4 of a small zucchini very thinly sliced
- 1 garlic cloves very thinly sliced
- 125 grams fresh mozzarella torn into bite size pieces
- 1 cup finely grated pecorino cheese
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1-2 tsp olive oil to drizzle
- salt and pepper
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Preheat oven to 425° F.
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Let dough stand at room temperature for 15-30 minutes.
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Lightly flour the bottom side of a baking sheet and set aside.
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On a lightly floured surface, rollout pizza dough until it's roughly 1/4" to 1/8" thick. Place on baking sheet.
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Top pizza with zucchini, fresh mozzarella, pecorino, garlic slices and thyme.
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Lightly drizzle with olive oil. Lightly season with salt and pepper (pecorino is a saltier cheese so a gentle hand while seasoning with salt .
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Bake for 18-25 minutes, until cheese is bubbling and starting to brown and crust is golden brown.
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Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Enjoy! xo
Burrata Tarts
I can’t wait for my zucchini to start producing! I really can’t wait to try this! As for the shape, it is rustic of course! Looks amazing.
When does zucchini produce? I’m waiting for mine too. Actually, I’m waiting for blossoms … that’s why I planted it in the first place. Priorities. 😉
I swear that I have an old photo of a pizza that I rolled out to the exact same shape as yours. Hah! It’s somewhere on my computer. I will find it and send it to you 😉
P.S. I love zucchini on pizza, and also potato on pizza (a toping I discovered when I was in Rome 13 years ago) 🙂
Lol! Yes, send it to me. That’s too funny. I don’t know why, but I thought you’d roll your pizza out all nice and round unlikely my clunky guy here.
Your pizza bianca looks awesome Samantha! It doesn’t matter what shape it is it’s the taste that counts 🙂 . Pizza with zucchini is my favorite when I’m in Italy and I’m making pizza at my parents place. Yours I’m sure tastes wonderful!
Well shucks. Thank you! It’s not a huge deal, as the flavours are totally great.
Woohoo! This looks so good. My little guy Teddy isn’t a tomato sauce fan so YES TO BIANCA PIZZA! Hope you and your family are well, Samantha!! (PS thank goodness for child-friendly pizza joints, amirite???) xo
Totally! Lifesaving and make events like Mother’s Day much more tolerable 😉
Yummy! Having worked in an Italian restaurant I can attest to the fact that not every pizza needs tomato sauce on it!! I also love using bechamel or vegetable purees as a base!
Oh yes! Pesto pizza anyone? Also a good call. I love the subtleness with this pizza though.
I’ve been eyeballing this all week Samantha. I love pizza pretty much all the time, but something about white pizzas always makes me feel a little extra fancy. I love the rustic-yet-refined character of the finished dish. Great job – as always!
That’s a great way of putting Sean; white pizzas do feel a little more fancy. I’m pretty much obsessed with it and I recently had the version from the pizzeria the other night … I now like my version better :/ Sometimes I need to leave well alone!