Last week I shared with you my pizza marinara sauce. This week we are making pizza bianca or white pizza, using a thick bechamel sauce. There are times when I am craving a traditional pizza and that is when I reach for my marinara sauce, usually out of the freezer, where I (almost) always have a portion size tub. But every now and then, I do want a ‘fancy’ pizza bianca instead and this is when I am using my bechamel sauce recipe. I make it a bit thicker by using less milk. I also add in lots of oregano in the sauce.

The great thing with a white pizza is that you can make it in so many ways. Either add all toppings before baking in the oven. Or cook the pizza first with just the white sauce and a sprinkle of cheese. Add your raw topping once the pizza is out of the oven. This works best with things like smoked salmon, onion, caviar, fresh herbs and other toppings like this.

Toppings

To a white pizza it is always nice to use light toppings. My favourite is smoked salmon, red onion and creme fraiche. This toppings all go on after the pizza bottom with the white sauce have been in the oven.

Or a simple pizza with just the sauce and the cheese. Once it is out of the oven, sprinkle some red pepper flakes on top.

Freezable

This sauce freezes very well, just like my regular bechamel. In an airtight container it will last for up to three months in the freezer. Like with my marina pizza sauce, I freeze my white pizza sauce in smaller containers, preferably portion sized containers to take out in the morning to defrost in the fridge. If you do forget to take out the sauce in the morning, having them frozen in smaller portions, they will still defrost relatively quickly in a tub of hot water.

I do recommend to have portion-sized pizza dough ready in the freezer too for those easy pizza dinner nights. Pick a red or white sauce. Pick your toppings and dinner is done for the night.

Print Recipe

Pizza bianca

Make pizza bianca or white pizza, using a thick bechamel sauce. I make the sauce thicker by using less milk and adding lots of oregano to the sauce.

Prep Time35 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Resting time1 hour hr

Total Time1 hour hr 45 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: baking, pizza

Servings: 4 portions

Ingredients

Pizza dough

• 7 g dry yeast
• 350 g water
• 200 g oat flour
• 400 g white flour
• 2 tsp salt

Bechamel sauce

• 50 g butter
• 2 tbsp flour
• 300 g milk
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 garlic clove

Instructions

Pizza dough

• Mix water and dry yeast with a wooden spoon until solved.
• Add in oat flour, all purpose white flour and salt, keep stirring with wooden spoon until thickens.
• Use your hands to kneed together until forms a dough. Put on baking table and kneed for another 10 mins. If using a machine this step will of course go much quicker!
• Let rise under a towel in a warm kitchen for 60 minutes.
• In the mean time, prepare your bechamel sauce base and any toppings you want on your pizza.

Bechamel sauce

• Melt butter in a saucepan, add the flour and let cook together while stirring. Peel and mince the garlic and add into the saucepan with the milk. Bring to boil to let the sauce thicken and then let simmer for 10 minutes, while stirring frequently to avoid burning at the bottom.
• The consistency of the sauce when finished will be a thick bechamel.
• Let the sauce cool down for about 30 minutes before putting it on your pizza dough.

Variations

Go back to last week and check out my classic marinara pizza sauce if you prefer something more traditional. Or try this fun, sharing pull apart pizza bread.

Not up for pizza tonight? Use the bechamel pizza sauce you have in the freezer, add some (a lot) of cheese and make one of my many Mac n’ Cheese variations or this creamy tuna bake, using the same recipe.