Pizza History – My House of Home Oven Pizza

Lots of people like pizza without cheese - in traditional Neapolitan cooking this is called pizza marinara. But what about pizza without sauce? Can pizza without sauce still be considered pizza? A pizza without tomato sauce is still pizza, in fact it's called pizza bianca, or white pizza, and it has become incredibly popular the world over. White pizza can come in many forms, but it typically includes cheese and seasonings as a base and leafy greens like arugula on top. White pizza is often served with "soft" cheeses like ricotta or creams instead of tomato sauce. But there's more to pizza than just cheese and tomato sauce. Let's get into the history of pizza and why it hasn't always included tomato sauce, as well as some delicious ideas for your next white pizza dinner. Pizza Without Sauce - "White Pizza" - Is A Very Old Tradition Pizza didn't begin on the streets of Naples or New York just over the last few centuries, it actually has a long tradition stretching back thousands of years or more. The history of pizza is a subject of ongoing debate and research. There is no definitive "origin" of the pizza as we know it today, but we can find various foods in the historical record that we can attribute as influencing the current dish. Most of these historical pizza-like dishes come in the form of flatbreads, or pitas, topped with various cheeses and vegetables. In ancient Persia, soldiers in the 6th century BC were known for baking flatbreads topped with dates and cheese on their battle shields. In ancient Greece, it was common for people to eat a kind of flatbread topped with garlic, onion, cheese and herbs. There is even a reference in the ancient Greek Aeneid from over 2000 years ago of soldiers eating round pita breads topped with vegetables (source). In every one of these references to pizza precursors, the "pizza" was eaten without tomato sauce. The reason for this is simple: tomatoes were not available in Europe until the Columbian exchange began in 1492, and the first reference of tomatoes being used in Italy did not occur until as late as 1548. Even these early references to tomatoes are not proof that they were actually being used in cooking, let alone on pizza. For a long time, tomatoes were considered poisonous and mostly used for decoration or garnish. It would not be until the late 17th century that Italians in Naples started using tomatoes as part of their normal cuisine (source). As you can see, the existence of "pizza" in European cuisine long predates the presence of tomatoes on the continent. For this reason, it's difficult to argue that pizza without tomato sauce is not pizza. However, it still can be said that traditional pizza as we know it today nearly always includes some kind of tomato sauce. What Is A Pizza Without Sauce Called? Pizza without tomato sauce can go by lot's of names, but it's most commonly referred to as a white pizza, or pizza bianca. This mostly has to do with the fact that pizza without tomato sauce doesn't have the characteristic red hue we associate with most pizza today. This being said, not all pizza without tomato sauce can be considered a "white pizza". For example, barbeque chicken pizza, which is common in the United States, uses barbeque sauce instead of tomato sauce. However, few if any people would consider a barbeque chicken pizza a kind of "white pizza". In this way, you can see that what qualifies as a "white pizza" is very subjective and often has more to do with the final color of the dish more so than the actual ingredients it contains. In some cases, you can even find "white pizza" topped with slices of tomato, which seems counterintuitive, but the lack of tomato sauce simply gives the pizza a "whiter" look to it despite still containing red tomatoes. In most cases, traditional white pizza, or pizza bianca, is simply a crust topped with cheese, seasonings and leafy greens like arugula or fresh herbs. It's also common to see white pizza include a base of cream or soft cheese like ricotta to add moisture that's missing from a lack of tomato sauce. What Can I Use Instead of Sauce On Pizza? If you're looking to make a pizza without tomato sauce, either because you don't have any or because you like white pizza, thankfully there are lots of options to choose from. Try any one of these tomato sauce alternatives on your next pizza and let us know how it turned out in the comments. Tomato Sauce Alternatives: Ricotta cheese"white pizza sauce" (Milk, garlic, parmesan, butter, flour, salt, pepper)Extra virgin olive oilseasoned extra virgin olive oilsimple herbs and seasoningPestoItalian style dressings of your choicecaramelized onions Alfredo sauce (similar to white pizza sauce)Olive tapenadeRoasted pepper spreadSweet chili saucePanna da cucina (a kind of Italian cream)So many more... There are so many tomato sauce alternatives for pizza that I couldn't possibly think of them all. Do you have a favorite one you don't see listed here? Let me know in the comments (but please don't say ranch salad dressing...just kidding). Simple White Pizza Recipe Related Posts: 70% Hydration Pizza Dough Recipe – No More Dry Crust Is It Still Pizza Without Cheese? What Does Olive Oil Do To Pizza Dough? How Was Pizza Invented? Why Pizza is Called Pie – The Story of American Tomato Pie Related Questions: White pizza sauce is a kind of dairy based sauce that is commonly used on white pizza, or pizza bianca. White pizza sauce is made by combining milk, butter, garlic, parmesan, salt, pepper and flour and whisking it into slightly thickened kind of "gravy" that pairs well with pizza without tomato sauce. White pizza sauce is similar to Alfredo sauce except it's thicker and doesn't contain oil. Pizza without tomato sauce is typically referred to as a "white pizza", or "pizza bianca" in Italian. This kind of pizza is not so different from other varieties of pizza except it doesn't contain red tomato sauce. Instead, white pizza usually uses something like ricotta cheese, cream or olive oil as its base and is topped with other kinds of cheese and leafy greens like arugula and fresh herbs. Pizza without sauce can still be considered a pizza. In fact, pizza has been made without tomato sauce for the majority of its existence. Ancient Europeans made flat breads and pitas topped with vegetables and cheese thousands of years before tomatoes were brought to Europe from the Americas. Even today, the "clam pie" pizza at Pepe's of New Haven, one of the most acclaimed pizzas in the United States, is made without tomato sauce. Tomato sauce can be replaced with many different alternatives on pizza including soft cheeses, fresh herbs and olive oil. Some popular pizza sauce alternatives include: white pizza sauce, ricotta cheese, pesto, barbeque sauce, olive tapenade, Italian kitchen cream and many more. What qualifies as "real pizza" differs from one person to the next and from one country to another. For example, many Italians would not consider much of the pizza made in America to be "real pizza". However, national biases aside, a pizza can absolutely have no sauce and still be a real pizza. White pizza, or pizza bianca, is a very popular kind of pizza that doesn't include tomato sauce.