Grandma Bridgette lived in Old Forge Pennsylvania (The Pizza Capital of the World). It was always a special treat to have White Pizza whenever we would visit. We don’t get there often these days but when we do we still love to stop in at Arcaro & Genell to have some cuts of White Pizza.
This recipe was adapted from a recipe I found on the Internet (http://www.stephencooks.com/2005/10/old_forge_white.html). Through trial and error I experimented with different cheese combinations, seasonings and increased the amount of dough to make sure there was enough to make it without the dough being too thin. I may continue to tweak the recipe moving forward but as it stands now the flavors definitely are close and I like the end result.
It has A LOT of cheese in it. More then what is traditionally made in Old Forge. If you want to get closer to the way it is made in Old Forge you can reduce the amount of cheese and dough, and fold one long sheet of dough over instead of making two smaller sheets of dough.
Ingredients
For The Crust
- 6 tsp Instant Yeast
- 7 cups Flour
- 3 tsp Salt
- 2.66 cups Water (105 degrees)
- 3 tbsp Olive Oil
For The Filling
- 32 oz Mozzarella Cheese (Shreded)
- 10 oz Cooper Sharp American Cheese (Shreded)
- 1 tbsp Rosemary (Fresh Preferred)
- To taste Garlic Salt
- To taste Black Pepper
- Olive Oil
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1: Make The Dough
Place all the crust ingredients in the bowl of a food processor with the steel blade (Use a Mixer instead if your food processor cannot handle that volume of liquid without overflowing) and process until the dough clumps together and starts to ride around on the blade. Place dough in a bowl, coat it with 1 tablespoon olive oil, cover with clear plastic and allow to rise ’til doubled, about an hour and a half.
Step 2: Make The Crusts
Punch down the dough, knead it for a few seconds and then cut in half. Wrap one half tightly in plastic wrap. Roll the other half into a thin rectangular sheet about an inch larger then the pan on all sides so that it overhangs the pan slightly, with edges the same thickness as the center. (Use a USA Pan about 10″ x 16 or a dark-colored metal jelly roll pan) Oil the pan with about 1-1/2 tablespoon olive oil and lay the crust in the pan.
Roll out the other piece of dough to about the same size and shape as the pan, and leave it next to the pan with the first crust. Cover the dough sheets with clean towels and allow to rise 30 minutes. If you are going to eat the pizza immediately after it has been made this would be a good time to preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Step 3: Assemble The Pizza
Mix the cheeses and spread over the bottom crust in the pan, stopping half an inch from the pan edge. Salt lightly. Lay the top crust over the bottom crust and filling. Stretch the edges of the lower crust up and over the upper crust and crimp together to form a seal.
Step 4: Bake The Pizza
Brush the top of the pizza liberally with water, then bake 15 minutes, or until just starting to brown. Pull the pizza out of the oven and brush the top liberally with olive oil and scatter on the rosemary, garlic salt and pepper. Bake an additional 10 minutes. Allow the pizza to rest 5-10 minutes before slicing.
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