Recipe: White Pizza - Authentic Italian

WHITE PIZZA - AUTHENTIC ITALIAN

"George (who grew up in Italy) says this is what you would get if you walked into a corner pizzeria in Rome and asked for "White Pizza". In Italy, there are 2 basic types of pizza - white and red. Red pizza is white pizza with tomato sauce." - Vicki Reading, 1994

FOR THE PIZZA DOUGH:
2 cups warm water (105 degrees F)
3 teaspoons dry yeast
4 3/4 cups white flour, divided use
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
FOR TOPPING:
Olive oil
Coarse Kosher salt (sea salt)
Cried rosemary

Dissolve yeast in the 2 cups warm water. Add yeast-water mixture to 3 cups of the flour. Mix, adding regular salt and olive oil a little at a time. Add the rest of the flour bit by bit until the dough "feels right".

Turn dough onto a floured board and knead; adding more flour if necessary to keep the dough from sticking to your fingers. Put the dough in a greased bowl and rotate to distribute the grease all over the dough. Let rise until about double in size (approximately 2 hours).

Remove the dough, punch down and roll out on the floured board to a thickness of 3/8- to 1/2-inch (make it any shape you desire). Put dough in a pan or cookie sheet. With a pastry brush, paint liberally with additional olive oil. Use your thumb and 2 fingers to make dimples over the entire surface. Sprinkle the Kosher sea salt and rosemary over the surface of the dough. Let rise a little more.

Bake at 375 degrees F for about 25 minutes. When done, paint liberally again with olive oil.

Makes 1 pizza
Source: George Earl - Baltimore, Maryland