Roman pizza bianca with blistered oily surface and rosemary

Pizza Bianca Romana

Pizza Bianca (Roman White Pizza) in a Pizza Oven

Name: Pizza Bianca (Roman White Pizza) in a Pizza Oven
Yield: 4 pizza
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 670 g flour; 480 g water (72% hydration); 13 g salt; 3.3 g instant yeast; 33 g olive oil; 100 g extra virgin olive oil (generous); 16 g flaky sea salt (maldon or coarse); 20 g fresh rosemary; 20 g sesame seeds (optional, roman style)

Rome, Lazio · round or rectangular · thin · no tomato

Pizza bianca is Rome's daily bread — sold by the meter at forno counters, warm, cut open and stuffed with mortadella or prosciutto. The high-hydration dough is dimpled, drizzled generously with olive oil, scattered with coarse salt and fresh rosemary, and baked until the surface blisters and the oil crisps in the hollows of the dimples. There is no tomato, no cheese — the olive oil is the point. A 5% oil content in the dough plus generous topping oil makes the crumb rich and slightly focaccia-like.

What sets it apart — The dimpling traps olive oil in pockets that crisp and brown, creating a surface of alternating crunch and chew. No tomato, no cheese — purity of bread and fat.

How many pizzas?

makes 4 × 300g balls
1200 g total dough

The dough · baker’s %

Flourstrong 00 or bread flour670 g
Water72% hydration480 g
Salt13 g
Instant yeast×1.25 active-dry · ×3 fresh3.3 g
Olive oil33 g

Bake

350–400°C · 660–750°F4–6 min

Launch onto the stone. The oil will pool in the dimples and sizzle. Pull when the surface is blistered and the edges have colored — the base should be firm but the crumb should remain soft.

Serving

Eaten warm, split open and stuffed at the table. Classic Roman stuffings: mortadella, prosciutto, stracciatella.

Topping — scaled for 4 pizzas

Extra virgin olive oil (generous)100 g
Flaky sea salt (Maldon or coarse)16 g
Fresh rosemary20 g
Sesame seeds (optional, Roman style)20 g

Olio, sale e rosmarino

Pour the oil over the dimpled dough and use your fingers to work it into the hollows. The oil should pool visibly. Scatter coarse salt, rosemary and sesame seeds. The bread will absorb more oil as it bakes — do not hold back.

Ferment & prep: Mix a soft, oily dough. Bulk-ferment 2 h. Stretch gently onto a lightly oiled surface — do not roll; use fingertips. Dimple generously. Rest 20 min. Dimple again before topping.