Garlic mushroom pizza bianca is a delicious and elegant pizza recipe that features no tomato sauce. This pizza is topped with mushrooms and garlic that have been previously sautéed in butter, and a generous sprinkle of freshly-cracked black pepper. An original pizza bianca to serve on pizza night for a twist to classic mushroom pizza with tomato sauce.
Mushrooms are probably my favourite pizza topping after cheese. Actually, just give me mushrooms and cheese. No tomato sauce. I love pizza bianca! I have nothing against tomato sauce, I will never say no to a classic pizza, but white pizzas somehow always feel more exclusive.
Being tomato sauce the standard, many pizzerias list those without tomato sauce separately. Anything on the pizza bianca list always feel somehow more luxurious. And so does this garlic mushroom pizza bianca. Baby bella mushrooms sautéed in garlic butter top this pizza together with mozzarella. A sprinkle of black pepper, fresh chives for a little colour. Simple but stunning.
Ingredients and substitutions
I have used baby bella mushrooms – also known as cremini – but you could virtually use any mushroom you like. Since we’re flavouring them with garlic you don’t need to get expensive mushrooms but can stick with simple and cheap button mushrooms.
This pizza is vegetarian! To make it vegan sauté the mushrooms and garlic in plant-based butter and sub dairy mozzarella with a vegan cheese replacement that works well on pizza (you want it to melt nicely and have a stringy texture).
In this recipe I am using a homemade pizza dough but you can as well use your favourite store-bought if you don’t have time for it. However, if you would like to make your dough from scratch you can use my easy pizza dough recipe or try a long fermentation with my poolish pizza recipe.
Black pepper nicely complements the flavour of the mushrooms and garlic, but chives is added mostly as garnish. You may skip those if you don’t like them.
Step by step instructions
- Clean and slice the mushrooms into 1 mm slices. Peel and mince the garlic.
- Set a skillet on medium heat and melt the butter, then add the minced garlic. Sauté about a half minute then add the sliced mushrooms. Stir to distribute butter and garlic and sauté 3-4 minutes. Add a sprinkle of salt, stir one last time to distribute, then remove from the heat.
- Stretch the pizza dough giving it a round shape and place it on a pizza peel dusted with semolina. Grate the mozzarella and add over the pizza dough. Top with sautéed mushrooms, making sure to get all the sautéed garlic on the pizza, too. Top with freshly-cracked black pepper and bake at 250°C (480°F) for 8-10 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the edges have a golden hue.
Garlic mushroom pizza tips
Sautéing the main ingredients before adding them to the pizza creates a more harmonious flavour in the final product. Raw garlic on pizza may come across as overwhelming. By lightly sautéing it with the mushrooms, its flavour is transferred to the mushrooms. This way the mushrooms are still the stars of the show, enhanced but not overwhelmed by the garlic.
Always cook the mushrooms before adding them to pizza. While you can top pizza with raw mushrooms, I wouldn’t recommend it when the mushrooms are the main ingredient. Pre-cooking the mushrooms will prevent them from going dry. Instead, sautéing the mushrooms in butter concentrates their flavour, and here we’re even adding to it by using garlic.
Pizza tastes amazing both fresh and re-heated. Got leftovers? Good! Re-heat them in a skillet with a minimal amount of vegetable oil. Keep the pizza on medium heat and with the lid on. The oil on the bottom will account for a crispy bottom, while the lid keeps the moisture inside for a juicy topping. Keep an eye on it from time to time and lower the heat if needed to make sure the bottom doesn’t burn.
You may also like
If you enjoyed this mushroom pizza recipe you may also enjoy:
- Toasted mushroom sandwich “zapiekanka”
- Poolish focaccia with cherry tomatoes
- Garlic mushroom crostini
- Pear and blue cheese pizza bianca
- Caprese focaccia sandwich
- Adjaran khachapuri with sourdough starter
- Tomato mustard pizzette
Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment below. If you’re planning to make this pizza at a later time you can pin it to Pinterest. Please subscribe to my newsletter and follow me on Pinterest. Until next time!
Garlic mushroom pizza bianca
Ingredients
- 1 ball pizza dough you can use this pizza dough recipe
- 125 g mozzarella aka 1 ball fresh mozzarella
- 100 g mushrooms baby bella (cremini) or button
- 1 clove garlic
- 20 g butter
- black pepper freshly-cracked
- salt to taste
- fresh chives for garnish optional
Instructions
- Clean and slice the mushrooms into 1 mm slices. Peel and mince the garlic.
- Melt the butter in a skillet on medium heat, add the minced garlic and sauté 30 seconds. Stir in the sliced mushrooms and sauté 3-4 minutes. Add a sprinkle of salt, stir to distribute and remove from the heat.
- Stretch the pizza dough giving it a round shape and place it on a pizza peel dusted with semolina. Top pizza dough with grated mozzarella and sautéed mushrooms and garlic. Lastly dust with freshly-cracked black pepper.
- Bake at 250°C (480°F) for 8-10 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the edges have a golden hue. Take out of the oven and garnish with fresh chives (optional).
Notes
- Sautéing the main ingredients before adding them to the pizza creates a more harmonious flavour in the final product. Pre-cooking the mushrooms will prevent them from going dry. Raw garlic on pizza may come across as overwhelming. By lightly sautéing it with the mushrooms, its flavour is transferred to the mushrooms.
- Re-heat any leftovers in a skillet with a minimal amount of vegetable oil. Keep the pizza on medium heat and with the lid on. The oil on the bottom will account for a crispy bottom, while the lock traps moisture for a juicy topping. Keep an eye on it from time to time and lower the heat if needed to make sure the bottom doesn't burn.
- Please notice that the nutritional information provided is made by an online calculator and meant to be used as a guideline only.
