The first time I was in a restaurant and saw a “White Pizza” on the menu, it made me look twice. What in the world is a white pizza? I asked myself. Well, that question was answered quickly when I read the ingredients…no red sauce. Yep, that’s right, no red sauce. In place of the traditional pizza sauce, a white pizza has ricotta cheese. Cheese, cheese, and…oh yes, cheese. Holy cow, sign me up. Although I didn’t order a pizza that night, I stored it in my memory box that I could make this at home. While I was at the grocery store in the dairy section, I came across the mozzarella string cheese, and an image flickered in my head…stuffed crust. Even more cheese to the pizza. I quickly grabbed a pack and smiled goofily as I headed to the register to check out. This pizza may put me in a dairy coma, but I was excited about the experience, either way. This dish is also a great alternative if someone has food allergies or other issues with tomato based products…so they can still have pizza, too!
First, roll out the refrigerated pizza dough in a pizza pan, or you can make your own dough if you prefer. Make sure there is some excess dough around the edges to allow enough room to roll dough over the mozzarella. Cut up the mozzarella in halves, place on dough.
Roll excess dough over mozzarella, and press down to seal dough. Brush olive oil, garlic and Italian seasoning on top of crust. Poke holes all in center of dough to avoid air bubbles during the baking process. Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 10 minutes, or until crust is a light golden brown.
After dough has baked in the oven, spread the ricotta cheese on top. Then, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and grated mozzarella. Three cheeses on one pizza, plus more cheese in the crust. Yikes.
Bake in the oven another 10 minutes or so, until the cheese has completely melted and the crust is that darker golden brown. Make sure the dough is cooked all the way though, otherwise it’ll have a dough-y texture (which my sister-in-law pointed out). Don’t do what I did. Make sure it’s cooked all the way through. 😉
Cut up your pizza. Watch the cheese stretch and fall as you greedily pinch more of it off the pizza and stuff it on your plate. Just make sure no one is watching to call you a piggy for stealing all the cheese. Hey, it happens.
Stuffed Crust White Pizza Recipe:
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 can refrigerated pizza dough
mozzarella string cheese
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Press pizza dough in pizza pan, leaving some excess on the sides to roll over mozzarella sticks. Combine olive oil, garlic and Italian seasoning, then brush on top of dough. Poke holes in dough with fork to avoid air bubbles in crust. Bake in oven for approximately 10 minutes, or until dough is a light golden brown. Spread ricotta cheese evenly on top of dough, sprinkle with parmesan cheese, then top with grated mozzarella cheese. Bake for another 10 minutes, or until cheese is completely melted and crust is a slightly darker golden brown. Sprinkle more Italian seasoning and/or oregano for added flavor and garnish.
