Garlic Parmesan Pizza Bianca Sauce

For some reason, my kid has an absolute aversion to red sauce of any kind–marinara, pizza sauce, bolognese. She won’t even try it to see if she likes it. She has it in her head that she won’t like it and just shoots it down. It breaks this Italian-food loving mama’s heart.

My daughter will eat pizza with sauce on it under protest if it is pre-made and it can’t be customized. For example, if she is at someone’s house or at a birthday party and she was not given the option of pizza without red sauce. However, if given the choice she’d prefer a Pizza Bianca or white pizza.

My kiddo’s definition of a Pizza Bianca is just as varied as the cultural definition. Some define a Pizza Bianca as the simplest form of pizza: bread, olive oil, seasonings. Others define it as the bread, a white sauce, a white cheese and MAYBE a couple toppings. My kiddo loves it both ways. To be honest, I do too.

That said, when the chance for a Pizza Bianca with sauce is there, I’ll jump on it. I’ve seen it made with Alfredo. I’ve seen it made with a garlic cream sauce. Personally I like a mashup of the two that is a Garlic Parmesan Sauce.

My Pizza Bianca Sauce is pretty easy to make. It looks like a lot of ingredients, but it really isn’t and the entire thing comes together in a few minutes. I prefer to freshly shred my Parmesan for the recipe (using the little holes on a cheese grater) because it melts better, but if you want to use the pre-shredded stuff I won’t judge you. If you aren’t a person that keeps half and half in the house–we aren’t all married to coffee drinkers!–then just use milk.

Once you have this sauce made up, it keeps for a few days in the refrigerator. So if you know Friday’s pizza night schedule is going to be hectic, make it ahead! And if you have left overs? Heat it up and dip some warm, focaccia bread it in. If you’re like me, you’ll be scraping every last bit out of the bowl. Yum!

Garlic Parmesan Pizza Bianca Sauce

Recipe by Kacey Baxter, Oven and SpiceCourse: DinnerCuisine: Italian AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

16

servings

Prep time

5

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Pizza Bianca or “White Pizza” in the United States is simply a pizza with a white creamy base instead of the traditional tomato sauce base. This simple sauce is creamy, cheesy and jam-packed with garlic punch. You can dial the garlic up or down depending on your preference, but if you are like me, you won’t have any fear of vampires visiting!

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp unsalted butter

• 2 tbsp flour

• 1 cup milk

• 1/4 cup half and half

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1/4 tsp pepper

• 1/8 tsp garlic powder

• 1-3 cloves garlic, minced

• 4-6 tbsp freshly shredded Parmesan Cheese*

Directions

• Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and continue whisking for 1-2 minutes (do not let it brown).
• Slowly add milk and then half and half, whisking constantly until smooth, thickened, and bubbly.
• Stir or whisk in salt, pepper, garlic powder and garlic to taste (see note).
• Add parmesan cheese and whisk another 30 seconds. Remove from heat and continue whisking just until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth (with the exception of the garlic lumps) then set aside to cool before using for pizza. Do not boil after adding cheese or sauce may curdle. Once cooled, cover and refrigerate up to 5 days.

Notes

• How much garlic you use really depends on how large your cloves are and how much you like garlic. I love garlic (no threat of vampires here!) and so I use three medium to large cloves in my sauce. The average person would find 1-2 medium to large cloves to be plenty. It really comes down to your preference and tastes.
• How much cheese to use depends on the freshness of your cheese and how firm you pack it in the spoon. I prefer freshly shredded and barely packed, so my amount is closer to 6 tablespoons. However, if you are using pre-shredded and packing it in the spoon, the amount may be closer to 4 tablespoons. Start with 4 and if the sauce doesn’t taste cheesy enough, add a couple more tablespoons.
• If you don’t have half and half on hand, it is okay to use milk instead. I just like the extra creaminess that half and half gives and it is a refrigerator staple at my house.