Bianca Pie
If you’re a pizza connoisseur, you’ve probably eaten at or at least heard of Dan Richer’s Jersey City joint, Razza. He’s slinging some of the best pizza not just in the Tri-State Area, but in the world. I had the honor of cooking alongside him for an episode on my series with the American Dairy Association Northeast, called Got Chef?
Together we made his *droolworthy* version of a white (bianca) pie. This is my make-it-at-home version adapted from his wonderful book, The Joy of Pizza (co-authored by Katie Parla). Dan has spent a lifetime (and still continues) perfecting his pie dough. If you want to master making dough from scratch, I highly recommend grabbing a copy of his book. But for the sake of time, I use a quality-store bought dough. These days, you can buy dough from your favorite pizzeria, pretty much any supermarket or even frozen online.
This pie uses three different cheeses: mozzarella for that melty cheese-pull moment, cold ricotta for a fresh, cooling contrast, and aged parmesan for a nutty, salty finish.
Bianca Pie
Ingredients
- 1 9-ounce ball pizza dough
- 4 ounces fresh mozzarella, torn into 1-inch pieces
- Coarse sea salt
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup whole milk ricotta
- Aged, hard cheese, such as white cheddar or parmesan
- 1 organic lemon
Instructions
- Allow the pizza dough to come to room temperature for 2 to 3 hours. You know it is ready when it has reached room temperature, has increased in volume by about 20% and the dough slowly springs back and leaves a slight indentation when poked with a floured index finger.
- Meanwhile, place a pizza stone or baking steel on the highest rack of your oven, ideally 6- to 8-inches from the top of the oven and preheat the oven to the highest setting, usually between 500- to 550-degrees F, for at least 30 minutes.
- Turn on the broiler and preheat an additional 10 minutes.
- Generously flour both sides of the dough with bench flour (a 50/50 mix of all-purpose and rice flour) and, working on a large, clean surface, using your fingers, begin to gently press the dough into a circle, creating a 1-inch crust.
- Lift the dough from one side and allow gravity to stretch it. Continue rotating the dough to achieve a uniform circle.
- Transfer the dough to peel with a light dusting of bench flour and refine the shape, creating a 12-inch circle.
- Working quickly, distribute the mozzarella evenly across the top, season with a generous pinch of coarse sea salt and a light drizzling of extra-virgin olive oil.
- Working quickly once the oven door is open, transfer the pizza to the prepared pizza stone or baking steel, jerking the peel in one swift motion.
- Bake until the crust has sprung and is golden brown with some charred spots, for 6 to 8 minutes. Cooking time is going to vary based on your oven temperature, so keep an eye on it.
- Transfer to a wire rack and dollop the ricotta evenly across the melted mozzarella.
- Season with an additional sprinkling of salt.
- Using a microplane, freshly grate some of the aged cheese over the top.
- Zest some lemon evenly over the top.
- Transfer to a serving plate and serve immediately.
