WHITE PIZZA?

Q. “I had dinner with a friend recently who is also a Celiac, and she served a store-bought white pizza, which I had never heard of before. I was astounded. I loved it! Garlic anyone?! Gluten-free crust is easy enough, but how do you make the white topping?” Darcie B. 

A. As distinct from “regular,” red-sauced pizza, so-called “white pizza” doesn’t use any tomato-based, um, base as a first layer before adding any other toppings. So, a white pizza can be as simple as the dough round (or rectangle) dressed in a film of good quality olive oil and merely some sort of white cheese.

Too, the “white” part can be any of an array of elements such as a variety of cheeses at once (ricotta, say, plus mozzarella, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and Pecorino Romano); it can be a cream-based sauce such as what we commonly call “Alfredo”; or “white” foods such as anchovies, shrimp, artichokes, or mushrooms; a mere dusting of herbs, or even lighter-colored foods like ham or prosciutto.  

As you point out, Darcie, minced garlic is an obvious and delectable choice. Some folks consider the evidently green vegetable spinach a candidate for their white pizzas. Go for it—any of it or all of it.

All you GF peeps would need worry about on a white pizza might be any gluten in any topping (for example, any “flour” that might be sprinkled on packaged, shredded cheese, put there in order to keep the strands separate, or used to thicken a white sauce such as an Alfredo. Rare, I grant you, but an issue to think over just in case.)