Cravings- they can be the best and worth thing. Best because once you satisfy them it’s pure bliss. Worst when you are craving something you can’t get your hands on. I had both feelings this past week when I finally made my favorite white pizza. I used to love ordering it in college when my parents would come to visit. It had chicken and broccoli and the perfect tangy white sauce. Since the restaurant who made it, Bertucci’s, is no longer open close to me, I decided to figure out how to make it myself. It did not disappoint!
What you’ll need:
Pizza Dough- I snagged two balls in my weekly Walmart pick up order. They were frozen when purchased so I let them rise at room temperature. Add a little flour to the surface to roll it out.
Broccoli- It doesn’t matter if it is fresh or frozen. I used fresh. One crown was more than enough. In order to take out some of the crunch and lessen the baking time, I put the cut up florets into a microwave safe bowl with a little water for a 3 minutes to “pre cook” it.
Grilled Chicken- I used a bag of pre cooked grilled chicken from Trader Joe’s but use whatever you like or grill it yourself. Would taste nice with crispy chicken or rotisserie too!
Mozzarella Cheese- 3 cups of shredded- more or less as you desire- I like A LOT!
White Sauce
1 tablespoon butter
1 lemon, zested and juiced- I had small lemons on hand and used 1.5 of them. In the future- I’d use one small lemon as the lemony flavor was a little overpowering.
Dry white wine – I used cooking wine. Pour the lemon juice into a measuring cup and add enough wine to create 1/2 cup of liquid
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
3/4 cup heavy cream 1 teaspoon garlic powder.
1½ teaspoons flour.
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg – this marries all the flavors together.
Freshly ground black pepper- I like a generous amount.
Melt butter in a pan over low/medium heat. As the butter melts, add the grated lemon zest; stir it around until it sizzles. Pour in the lemon juice/white wine, add salt, stir and bring the liquids to a simmer. Let simmer just a couple of minutes. Stir in the cream and flour. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, about 2 to 3 minutes you have a thick, creamy sauce. Remove from heat, add nutmeg and freshly ground black pepper. I made the sauce 6 hours before making the pizza. This helped to let the flavors sit and come together.
Preheat the oven to 450* and place your pizza stone in to warm. Roll out the dough in preparation. Once the oven reaches the temp, place the dough on the hot stone. Let the dough get lightly brown before putting the toppings down. This will allow the crust and bottom to get slightly crispy- this helps the pizza from getting soggy from the toppings.
Onto the crisped dough- put down the toppings in this order: sauce, broccoli, chicken then mozzarella cheese. Bake the pizza for an additional 20 minutes or until the cheese is starting to brown.
Pull from the oven and let sit for a few minutes then cut and serve! I was pleasantly surprised how easy this pizza came together and even more delighted with how it reheated the next day. This is definitely a recipe worth saving!
Enjoy
Gahhh that looks so devouring!! You just wanna dive in with both hands and feet 😂
Made the recipe exactly as stated. It really tasted like Bertucci’s Silano pizza. I also had two small lemons and because I can’t ever get enough lemon, I used both. I need to work on the pizza dough, I have trouble finding a pre-made dough that I really like.
Bob! That is incredible- I am so glad you made it and thought it was a great replica recipe. Thank you for sharing and ps- I love lemon too ☺️