Coming from a person who orders extra sauce on every pizza delivered to her home, it is interesting that I’m pushing a white pizza (two, in fact, I have another recipe coming next week) but! Pizzas bianca have their place. There are times where a red sauce is just, well, too much, when what you want is to honour one guest ingredient, maybe two, and the only thing else needed is a host–a delicious dough. No room for scene-stealing sauces or other party crashers. White pizzas are usually intimate affairs and in this one, you need exactly 3 ingredients outside of the dough and some salt. Child’s play. Except a child will probably ask where the sauce is. Note, they are not invited to this particular party either.
White Pizza with Leeks and Soft Cheese
Extra-virgin olive oil
Pizza dough (1/2 of the dough from this recipe, save the other half for another use)
1 tbs fresh thyme leaves, plus more for garnish
1 c sliced leeks, white and light green parts only
125 g goat brie, sliced thinly, or other soft cheese sliced or crumbled
Kosher salt
Preheat oven to 525F degrees.
Oil a 13 X 18 inch rimmed baking sheet (or any baking sheet or pizza tray you’d like to use). Gently pull and stretch the dough across the surface of the pan, and use your hands to press it evenly out to the edges. Oil your hands slightly if the dough sticks to them, and pinch any holes together that may form in the dough. Sprinkle thyme leaves evenly over dough.
Pour a 1/2 tsp of oil onto the leeks and using your hands, rub oil all over to coat them. Place leeks and cheese evenly over dough. Season with salt.
Bake for 12-15 minutes but check after 10 to make sure the pizza isn’t burning. How long it takes will depend on your oven, your tray and how thick your crust is. Don’t be afraid of a slight char around the edges. It’s done when the leeks start to turn golden and the cheese has practically disappeared into the crust, and your crust could shatter. Remove, let cool for a minute, slice and serve with a garnish of any reserved thyme leaves and a drizzle of oil.
Serves 2-4.