White pizza with wild mushrooms, roasted garlic-parmesan sauce, prosciutto, mozzarella and basil. The sauce makes enough for two pizzas. The dough makes four 8 inch pizzas or three flatbreads just in case you need practice.
1 griddle or 12 inch cast iron pan for cooking the pizza bases
1 Rolling Pin
Ingredients
White sauce
1.5tablespoonall purpose flour
1.5tablespoonsunsalted butter
2tbsp dry white wine
1cuphalf and half
3tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1pinch kosher salt
Fresh ground white pepperto taste (optional)
1tablespoonmashed roasted garlicsee note
Pizza dough
2 ¼cupsall purpose flour or bread flour or 00 flour
¾cuplukewarm water
1teaspoonsalt
2teaspooninstant yeast
1tablespoonextra virgin olive oil
1.5teaspoonssugar
Pizza
5ozcooked or raw mushroomsor more to taste
Crushed red pepper flakesto taste
Torn leaves of fresh basiloptional
2slicesprosciutto or other high quality ham
2-3ouncesfresh mozzarella cheese
Instructions
Pizza dough
Mix the water, oil and sugar. Add the flour and yeast and mix well until combined and a dough forms. It’s ok if it isn’t perfectly smooth.
Cover the bowl with cling film and put in a warm place to rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes. Knead the salt into the dough on a work surface, portion into 4 pieces, roll into balls and refrigerate or freeze until needed.
White Sauce
Heat the butter in a small sauce pan. Add the flour and stir to coat and cook for two minutes on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add the, garlic and splash of wine and whisk.
Add the half and half and whisk, turning up heat to medium high. Cook until the sauce is thickened, whisking to prevent lumps. Season the sauce with a pinch of salt, a grating or tiny pinch of nutmeg and the white pepper if using. Remove the pan from the heat
The sauce will be a thick, spreadable batter when it cools.
Mushrooms
If using mushrooms from a store, cut them into slices and arrange on the pizza.
If using fresh wild mushrooms Cook the mushrooms in a dry pan until they wilt and release their juice. Add a teaspoon of oil and brown lightly, then reserve until needed.
Assembly
On a floured work surface, roll out a 5 oz ball of dough into an 8-9 inch circle. You can also roll 3-4 oz balls out into a wide oval, cook them on a griddle and call them flatbread pizzas.
Heat a pan larger than the round of dough (I used a 12 inch pan) on a burner. Cook the round of dough for a couple minutes on each side until puffed and browned. Some air bubbles will occur, but they will deflate after cooking.
Spread roughly ½ cup of the cooled sauce over the cooked dough, leaving 1 inch around the edge.
Put a layer of mozzarella on top of the sauce (roughly ¾-1 oz of cheese). Arrange the mushrooms on the pizza, sprinkle with a little extra mozzarella and parmesan, then finish with the sliced prosciutto on top. Add a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes if using.
Cooking
Preheat an oven to 500 F. You'll want the pizza on the middle rack.
Put a baking sheet on the oven rack underneath where the pizza will be to catch any dripping cheese.
Put the pizza directly on the oven rack and cook for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. If you want to brown it at the end, turn the oven on broil for a minute or two, making sure to watch it carefully.
Remove the pizza from the oven, cut into wedges, sprinkle over the torn basil leaves and serve.
Notes
Roasted Garlic
Wrap a bulb of garlic in foil and cook in a 325 oven for 30 minutes or until tender. You can substitute a teaspoon of minced or grated fresh garlic, added to the butter before the flour.
Variations
Sometimes I add a few handfuls of fresh arugula after I cut the pizza into wedges.