Simple White Sauce Pizza

 

1 (14- to 16-ounce) ball pizza dough

Extra-virgin olive oil or melted bacon grease, for coating the dough

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 C. (or more) sliced or chopped fresh vegetables and/or herbs (For this pizza, I used 4 scallions, thinly sliced lengthwise into ribbons and ¾ C. quartered cherry tomatoes)

⅓ C. (or more) torn cured meat or cooked chopped bacon (optional, I used 4 thin slices of prosciutto, torn into bite-size pieces)

½ to ⅔ C. shredded cheese (I used aged gouda, but any cheese you love is perfect)

5 T. heavy cream, divided

 

Preheat the oven to 500°F (if using a baking sheet) or as high as it will go (if using a baking stone/steel; place the stone/steel in the bottom third of the oven before you start preheating). Let the oven preheat for at least 30 minutes. Then, if you’re using a baking stone or steel, switch the oven to Broil on high. Stretch or roll out your dough to a 12- to 14-inch circle, then transfer it to a baking sheet / pizza pan or a lightly floured pizza peel (if using a baking stone/steel). Drizzle the dough very lightly with olive oil or bacon grease, and use a pastry brush to spread the oil all the way to the edges of the dough. Season with a hefty pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Scatter on your veggie and/or meat toppings, then the cheese (if using). Drizzle half of the cream evenly over top and season with another big pinch of salt. Transfer the pizza to the oven and bake until the crust is golden around the edges and evenly browned on the bottom—8 to 10 minutes on the baking sheet, 6 to 8 minutes on the baking stone/steel. Remove the pizza from the oven. Immediately drizzle the remaining cream evenly over top and season with a pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Let the pizza sit for 5 minutes or until the cream has congealed, then slice and serve.