Pizza Bianca (White Pizza) with Potato & Camembert

Pizza bianca is a classic style of Italian pizza without any tomato sauce. This white pizza recipe comes topped with potatoes, Camembert, rosemary, bacon and artichokes. It's a delicious bake that makes a great sharing pizza.

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I've devised two pizza bianca recipes for this post today. One incorporates blanched potato, brie and rosemary. The other white pizza recipe simply adds to this already delectable base with the inclusion of artichoke slices and bacon.

Whichever way you take the toppings, this pizza bianca is a great sharing dish. Savoury, cheesy and deeply satisfying, you'd be hard-pressed not to crave a second slice.

What is White Pizza?

Pizza bianca translates as white pizza. Essentially, it is a pizza without tomato sauce.

In it's simplest form this sauce-free pizza comes drizzled with just olive oil, salt and perhaps a little rosemary.

Other common additions to a white pizza recipe are white cheeses, such as ricotta and mozzarella.

I've taken mine a step further by adding a few additional ingredients. Though in truth, I've been mindful not to add too much colour to the resulting pizza bianca.

Basic Ingredients

All good pizza requires a trustworthy dough that can be relied upon to delivery a tasty, light and crispy crust. I highly recommend using my beer pizza dough.

I've been using this dough for over a decade. The recipe I give is enough for 2 pizzas but it can easily be scaled up or down to match your needs.

Of course, feel free to use your own dough if you have one you always use.

Aside from the dough, the toppings on this pizza are as follows:

• New potatoes - blanched to ensure they cook sufficiently
• Parmesan cheese
• Camembert cheese
• Fresh rosemary
• Olive oil
• Bacon (optional)
• Artichokes preserved in oil (optional)

All of these ingredients are typically easy to get hold of in supermarkets.

How to Blanch Potatoes

Since this pizza is only in the oven for 5-8 minutes, there is a risk that raw potato slices placed on top would not be sufficiently cooked.

For this reason, blanching the potatoes prior to cooking on the pizza is an essential step in this recipe. It's the best way to ensure that the potatoes are nicely cooked on the baked pizza.

In fact, I double blanch my potatoes:

• Begin by slicing each potato as finely as possible - 1mm thick only (a mandolin is by far the best way to achieve this
• Place in a bowl and cover entirely with boiled water - leave for 3 minutes (the water will go cloudy as the potato starch is released)
• Drain, place back in the bowl and pour more boiled water over them - leave for a further 2-3 minutes
• Drain

The potatoes should now be ready to use. They will finish cooking in the oven and will retain a firmly tender texture.

Assembling & Cooking this White Pizza Recipe

I give full instructions for cooking pizza in my dough recipe. The same technique should be used here for cooking my pizza bianca:

• Put the baking sheet(s) inside of your oven and heat as hot as the oven will go. For me that is 275C/ 525/ GM11
• Roll the pizza out and place on a baking sheet dusted with coarse semolina
• Working quickly, top with grated parmesan, the potato slices, camembert cheese & chopped rosemary. Bacon and artichoke slices are optional extras
• Brush the potatoes with olive oil

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• Sprinkle the hot baking sheet with semolina and slide the topped pizza into the oven. Don't let the pizza sit around on the baking sheet while you prepare more - it will stick and become difficult to transfer to the oven
• Cook for around 7-8 minutes until golden and bubbling
• Once cooked, brush the edge of the pizza with olive oil, sprinkle with salt (optional), slice and serve

I cannot stress enough how important it is to work quickly when assembling pizzas and getting them into the oven.

Please don't prepare multiple pizzas with the aim of getting them into the oven at the same time. The longer they sit on the baking sheet the more likely they are to stick to it.

It's worth remembering though that food tends to cook slightly slower on a lower shelf in the oven, so perhaps slide the first pizza into the lower shelf if you are trying to serve 2 pizzas at the same time. If you can get the second pizza onto the top shelf within a couple of minutes, they will most likely end up cooked at the same time.

Other Ideas for Topping White Pizza

Since white pizza merely refers to a pizza without any sauce, it follows that there are plenty of ways to vary the toppings for such a pizza. Try topping with:

• Ricotta, mascarpone & clams
• Blue cheese, caramelised onion & sage
• Mushrooms, goats cheese & thyme
• Mascarpone, parmesan, smoked salmon & chives

For a splash of colour, green vegetables, such as grilled courgette or asparagus work well too.

How would you top this white pizza recipe? Let me know by leaving me a comment.

Find More Sharing Recipes:

• Party-sized mini pizzas (pizzette)
• Dough balls with baked camembert
• Chilli sweet potato cubes with avocado & feta dip
• Poppadom style potato skins

And for dessert, try out my marshmallow sharing platter. It's a fun and indulgent crowd pleaser.