Gluten Free Ricotta Garlic Blanco Naan Pizza (White Pizza)
Given the choice of any pizza I will always opt for a white garlic pizza. I think its one of the best comfort foods around. I also really enjoy ricotta cheese. So when I had the idea to try ricotta on pizza I didn’t look back!
It turned out unbelievably delicious! I used my gluten free naan as the crust here which was a no brainer. That recipe has gotten so much love (and for good reason!) It just makes sense as a chewy pizza crust. All in all between the crust & toppings this recipe is a winner.
If you prefer burrata cheese over ricotta or want to experiment it would taste fantastic too! If you go this route just sprinkle the minced garlic, red pepper flakes and salt over the crust after the mozarella cheese layer.
To make this pizza dairy free:
There are some fantastic options these days for dairy free pizza! Violife is my go to - it melts the closest to regular cheese. Many vegan brands taste decent but just burn and look odd baked. If you can get your hands on violife mozzarella - it will give you the best possible results.
For the Parmesan I really like both violife park or the follow your heart brand!
For Ricotta I think the best choice (and maybe only store bought choice?) is from kite hill.
For a dairy free pizza I would go about assembling it differently. The vegan ricotta & parmesan aren’t going to behave the same way as real cheese in the oven if its on the top of the pizza. SO, I would suggest making the ricotta mixture and then after drizzling the crush with olive oil gently spread the ricotta portion over the base of the crust. Sprinkle with parmesan THEN add the violife mozzarella cheese to the top. I would suggest using 2 cups of it rather than 3. I find less is more with vegan cheese. You’ll get all the same great flavor & texture of using real cheese :)
Lets go over the ingredients!
Better Batter Gluten Free Orginal Blend
This flour blend continues to amaze me. It can do so many things better than most other blends that I have tried. As a result its extremely popular. Usually its available on Amazon and at Walmart. Lately I have been ordering it from the Better Batter website directly. When they sell out- they tend to restock pretty quickly. Check back within a day or two if they are sold out when you look. I buy it in bulk now (20 lbs at a time) as I cant risk running out. I use it in too many recipes that we love.
What if you cant get your hands on it? This may be the case if you live outside the US. My friend Nichole from Gluten Free on a Shoestring has figured out a mock recipe for better batter. Her version should work great in this recipe! The owner (Naomi) of better batter has confirmed that the mix is similar to the official version.
Better Batter so kindly offered me a 35% off promo code to share with all of you! This can be used as often as you would like for every single purchase made directly on BetterBatter.com Use the code: BakingAngell35
Expandex
This bread is truly only possible because of the magic of expandex. It is a modified form of tapioca starch that was formulated to improve gluten free baking. The word Modified tends to worry people- so let me explain further. Essentially they studied tapioca and removed portions of it leaving only the parts that would allow for it to cause amazing elasticity (aka its name) in gluten free recipes. This flour allows me to get an incredible rise with everything I use it in. It traps the air bubbles in the dough just like regular flour with gluten does! Its honestly incredible. If you eat any processed or store bought foods you have eaten many forms of modified starch. Its nothing new- its just semi new to the home baker. Its non gmo and I typically get it from the brand Judee’s on amazon. Under no conditions can you sub it out for another regular starch.
Outside of the US there is a product called Ultratex 3 I have not worked with it but from what I understand its comparable! I would use that in the exact same quantity as the expandex amount that I call for.
Superfine Rice Flour (Brown or White) Do not make the assumption that a flour is superfine unless it is labeled as so. The grind of a flour makes a HUGE difference in how a recipe turns out and how much moisture is absorbed My favorite brand of superfine flour is and has always been from authentic foods. You can order that here: https://amzn.to/3r4zQA4 . While bobs red mill flours are better ground than they used to be- I still do not put them in the superfine category.
Yeast: Any brand will do. Just make sure that its fast acting or listed as instant.This is the brand I typically use.
Xanthan gum: I recently read somewhere that all brands of xanthan don’t work the same. I didn’t know this as I have always just purchased bobs. So- I would stick with bobs for this recipe and all of my recipes.
Oil- Any mild flavored oil will work great. Avocado oil. Vegetable oil or even olive oil.
Milk - While I think that most dairy free unsweetened milks will work just fine, the only thing I tested was oat milk so far.
Sugar- REAL Sugar is important. Its what feeds the yeast and makes this bread possible. I do not recommend swapping in a liquid sweetener as that could throw off the recipe. Please don’t use any keto sugars or even coconut palm sugar. It may not work as well.
Dairy Free Yogurt: For this recipe I opted for forager unsweetened yogurt. I picked this one as texture wise I think its really close to regular yogurt. Im guessing other brands will work ok too- kite hill may need to be thinned out/watered down a tiny bit. You can of course use regular plain yogurt as well if dairy is not an issue.
Yeast: Any brand will do. Just make sure that its fast acting or listed as instant.This is the brand I typically use.
Xanthan gum: I recently read somewhere that all brands of xanthan don’t work the same. I didn’t know this as I have always just purchased bobs. So- I would stick with bobs for this recipe and all of my recipes.
Oil- Any mild flavored oil will work great. Avocado oil. Vegetable oil or even olive oil.
Milk - While I think that most dairy free unsweetened milks will work just fine, the only thing I tested was oat milk so far.
Sugar- REAL Sugar is important. Its what feeds the yeast and makes this bread possible. I do not recommend swapping in a liquid sweetener as that could throw off the recipe. Please don’t use any keto sugars or even coconut palm sugar. It may not work as well.
Dairy Free Yogurt: For this recipe I opted for forager unsweetened yogurt. I picked this one as texture wise I think its really close to regular yogurt. Im guessing other brands will work ok too- kite hill may need to be thinned out/watered down a tiny bit. You can of course use regular plain yogurt as well if dairy is not an issue.
Working with the Yeast
If you have not used your yeast recently (or its not new) and you would like to make sure its active then I would recommend warming your milk to a Luke warm temperature (no hotter) and mixing in the yeast and a portion of the sugar into it. Set it aside for 5-10 minutes. As long as it starts to bubble and froth you know its good to go.
I use my yeast often and know its alive and well so I skip this step and throw everything in the mixing bowl all at the same time.
IF you need to make the naan crust Egg Free- My guess is that this recipe should be pretty forgiving of egg replacers as it doesn’t need to rise of ton and it only requires 2 egg whites. Feel Free to experiment- I think the results will be good!
Ricotta Garlic Blanco Naan Pizza (White Pizza)
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
If you have not used your yeast recently (or its not new) and you would like to make sure its active then I would recommend warming your milk to a Luke warm temperature (no hotter) and mixing in the yeast and sugar into it. Set it aside for 5-10 minutes. As long as it starts to bubble and froth you know its good to go.
I use my yeast often and know its alive and well so I skip this step and throw everything in the mixing bowl all at the same time.
