This potato pizza is a white version of a pizza (sans sauce), topped with crispy thinly sliced potatoes, mozzarella and asiago cheeses, and fresh rosemary.
This crispy potato pizza with fresh rosemary has to be my favorite pizzas that my dad makes in his wood fired pizza oven, for many reasons. For one, it is simply delicious – and when I say simply I mean just that. Like any good Italian cooking, this potato pizza uses only a few simple yet super fresh ingredients that come together to form an incredibly complex and savory flavor profile. Thinly sliced red potatoes, fresh rosemary, creamy mozzarella, sharp asiago, and a drizzle of fruity olive oil get melted together atop thinly stretched pizza dough to create the perfect combination of salty, cheesy, crispy, and fresh flavors. A lot of people wouldn’t think of putting potatoes on top of a pizza, but they are actually the perfect vessel to balance out lots of salty cheeses, and when they’re sliced thinly they crisp up in the oven and add that perfect crunch as a pizza topping.
- ½ lb pizza dough, home made or pre-prepared (Trader Joe's make a good one)
- 1-2 red skinned potatoes, sliced thinly on the mandolin
- 6 oz mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced or shredded
- ¼ cup shredded asiago cheese
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- fresh rosemary
- salt
- Preheat the oven to as hot as it will go - usually around 550. If you are using a pizza stone, which is preferable, preheat this as well. If you don't have a pizza stone you can use a baking sheet, also preheated.
- On a well floured surface, stretch and roll your your pizza dough to ¼ inch thick disc around 12 inches in diameter.
- Thinly slice your potatoes to about ⅛ of an inch thick, using either a mandolin or very carefully with a knife.
- Assemble your pizza: Start with a drizzle of olive oil over the dough. Layer your sliced potato, followed by mozzarella cheese, being sure not the overlap the pieces. Finish with a sprinkle of asiago cheese, fresh rosemary, and salt.
- Using a pizza peel or the back of a cookie sheet, transfer your assembled pizza to the preheated baking surface. Bake for 5 minutes, then check and spin the pizza. Cook for another 5-10 minutes or longer if necessary, depending on the temperature of the oven, until the crust is browned and cheese is melted.
- Top with a drizzle of olive oil, flaky salt, and immediately and serve.
One of the other (many) reasons I love this potato pizza is because it reminds me of a trip I took with my family to the Amalfi Coast in Italy over the summer of my 15th birthday (for more posts about Amalfi check out my Kale and Cannellini Bean Salad and my Lemon Bar recipes). We were staying in a hotel about half a mile up the coast from the city of Amalfi itself, and after a long morning of hiking mountains on the coast, visiting small towns, or hitting the beach, we would inevitably end up right in the heart of town for a quick lunch before siesta. There was a pizza place that made awesome pizzas and arancini (Italian rice balls) and for three days in a row I had my eye on one pizza in particular: a white pizza with no sauce, but a topping of potatoes and tons of cheese and fresh herbs.
Rolling out and topping the Potato Pizza
This potato pizza was something I had never seen at home in New York (surprising for a place known to many as the pizza capital of the world) and I was dying to get my hands on this unusual but delicious looking treat. For three days in a row, I eyed this pizza while waiting on line, and then watched in despair as someone in front of me snatched up the last slice. On day four when I finally got my hands on a piece of my coveted potato pizza, it seemed like the most delicious thing I had ever put in my mouth. I’m sure that had a lot to do with the anticipation and then the ultimate gratification of finally getting a slice, but I also know that the flavors of that potato pizza made it one I would never forget.
When my dad finally finished his pizza oven back home in New York, the potato pizza was one of the first to win a spot on our now rather long list of staple pizzas. As much as I loved it back then when we were in Amalfi, I think I love it even more now. There’s something I’ve always loved about potatoes; they perfectly balance out the salty asiago cheese that tops this pizza – which as much as I love asiago it can get to be a bit overwhelming at times. Then there’s the fact that the potatoes get super crispy and add a great crunch to the top of the pie. And without sauce on this pizza, the potatoes make it just as hearty and homey feeling as a traditional slice.
My dad makes this pizza in his wood fired pizza oven of course, but you can just as easily make in your regular oven (check out my zucchini pizza recipe for more tips). I can’t wait for you to try this potato pizza that has become one of my all time favorites – and for a girl who eats a lot of pizza that’s really saying a lot. Now whenever my dad makes one, he’s sure that I’m the first one to get a slice, because he knows that it will go quick and that I’ve already done my fair share of waiting for a slice of potato pizza.
Do you find that you have to pre cook the potatoes beforehand? Wondering if they are in the wood oven long enough to cook through from raw?