Zucchini & Herbed Ricotta Pizza Bianca

 
If you think pizza is only about tomato sauce, pepperoni, and cheese, you are missing out! Try this exceptional Italian-style vegetarian white pizza with zucchini and herbed ricotta. “Pizza Bianca” is what white pizza is called in Italian.

Fresh creamy herbed ricotta is spread on pizza dough, mounded with thinly sliced zucchini ribbons, topped with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses then baked in a screaming hot oven until crisp and golden. At the first bite, you’ll see why this will become your new favourite. It’s light and crispy in all the right places, cheesy, and packed with lots of herb flavour.

To achieve the crispiest pizza ever, make sure you get your oven really hot so the pizza will cook and brown quickly.  When the golden-baked crispy pizza comes out of the oven, you won’t believe you created it!

Since I grew up in an Italian family eating homemade pizza all the time, you could say I’m a good authority on homemade pizza. I always make my own pizza dough but if that’s not your thing, don’t let that be a barrier. Make your life easy and simply pick up pre-made pizza dough at your local bakery or grocer. It’s perfectly acceptable!

When you have pizza dough on hand (whether it’s homemade or store-bought) you’ll be surprised at how quick and easy it is to make this pizza on a weeknight. For convenience, you could easily keep a stash of pizza dough in your freezer. Thaw the frozen dough in the refrigerator overnight. Bring cold pizza dough to room temperature to rise a little bit which will make it easier to stretch. This takes about one hour. One pound (450g) of pizza dough makes one medium-large pizza.

If you don’t own a spiralizer to slice the zucchini into thin ribbons, then use a vegetable peeler or sharp knife and slice the zucchini into thin strands or coins. I purchased the Ricardo Countertop Spiralizer and I love it! It’s so easy to use, easy to clean, and stores easily in a drawer in the original box. You will be surprised at the generous amount of freshly sliced zucchini you need to pile on the pizza as it reduces substantially when baked. Wait until the last minute to spiralize the zucchini as you don’t want it to exude any liquid before cooking.

Bring weekly pizza night to your life with this Pizza Bianca!

Recipe

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Zucchini & Herbed Ricotta Pizza Bianca

An Italian-style vegetarian pizza topped with creamy herbed ricotta, zucchini ribbons, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Baked until crisp and golden this pizza will beat any delivery!

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 1 pizza dough 1 pound/450g, homemade or store-bought, at room temperature
• 1 cup ricotta cheese drained in a fine mesh sieve
• 1 garlic clove crushed
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Rosemary plus 1 tablespoon more for garnish
• ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese plus 2 tablespoons more for topping
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon or up to 2 tablespoons milk
• 2 medium-sized zucchini spiralized ribbon style
• 1 250 - 300 g mozzarella ball sliced

Instructions

1. Transfer pizza dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place thick kitchen towel over the bowl. Set aside to rest in a warm place to allow it to rise and come to room temperature, at least one hour.
2. Preheat oven to 450 - 500 degrees F. Lightly oil a round or rectangle baking sheet.
3. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Stretch dough into a circle or rectangle, to fit the baking sheet being used. If the dough springs back when stretching, let rest covered in the baking sheet for 10 more minutes. Once completely stretched, cover and let dough rest while preparing remaining ingredients.
4. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl stir the drained ricotta cheese, garlic, 1 tablespoon of the Rosemary, ½ cup of the Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, nutmeg and one tablespoon milk until creamy and smooth. If the mixture seems too thick, stir in another tablespoon of milk. The mixture should be a spreadable consistency.
5. Spiralize the zucchini, ribbon style (or thinly slice) and set it aside for a few minutes. Note: you don’t want to do this too far ahead as the zucchini will exude liquid.
6. Spread ricotta cheese mixture over top the dough and mound with zucchini ribbons. Arrange mozzarella slices overtop and sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese.
7. Bake on the lowest oven rack for 8 – 12 minutes until the crust is golden and the top is bubbly and golden-brown. If desired, move the pan to the top rack and broil for 1 minute to brown the top. Watch the pizza closely as every oven is different so baking times may vary. Remove from oven and top with remaining 1 tablespoon Rosemary.