This is another specialty pizza from my pizza shop days.  This one wasn’t on the menu–my boss would make it occasionally just for us.  The rosemary not only makes this pizza taste extraordinary, it also makes your kitchen smell fantastic.

Ingredients:

• Shaped pizza dough, or half of my pizza dough recipe
• Two small potatoes, I used baby white potatoes
• 1 tbsp chopped rosemary (fresh!)
• 1 cup of ricotta cheese
• 1 1/2 cups of shredded mozzarella
• 1 tbsp grated Parmesan
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp basil
• 2 tsp garlic powder

Remove some leaves from your sprig of rosemary, and chop them up mercilessly.  I like them chopped up fine, but it’s up to you really.  You’ll want about a tablespoon of chopped rosemary.

Instead of tomato sauce, this pizza gets a layer of ricotta cheese.  The ricotta is an opportunity to add a lot of flavor to the pizza, so take advantage of it.  Mix the ricotta cheese with the olive oil, garlic powder, oregano, basil, salt, black pepper, and half of the chopped rosemary.  Now that’s flavor!

Slice your potatoes into 1/4 inch slices.

You can go thinner if you like, but this thickness seems to work well.  Throw the potatoes into a pot of cold water and bring it to a boil.  Once the water boils, you’ll only need to let them cook for about 5 minutes, or until they’ve softened up.  They will cook on the pizza, but it won’t be in the oven very long.  The last thing that you want is a pizza with raw potato slices on top!  Run some cold water over them and set them aside.

Preheat your oven to 450-500° F.

I got the dough out of the refrigerator after rising all night in there.  I kept it out on the counter, still in the bag, for about an hour.  You really just want it to warm up to room temperature.

Take the dough out of the bag, punch it down, and shape it into a ball again.  Then let it rest for about 10 minutes.  Place your dough ball on your floured counter and start…well, this picture will explain it better than I can.

Shape it into a flying saucer, I guess?  You want to just flatten a ring that is just inside where the crust will be.  So the outside ring is thicker, then a thinner portion, and then the middle is thickest.  Now put your fingers on the thin part, and pull your hands apart to stretch the dough.  As the outer edge gets wider, move your fingers into the center.  You’ll eventually get something like this:

You can pat down thick spots, and pinch together thin spots, as you need to.  This takes some practice, and until you get the hang of it you’ll just have some nice funky shaped pizzas!  Once you have it shaped, put it on your peel or baking sheet or whatever you are using.

Now let’s start assembling it.  The first layer, as I mentioned earlier, is ricotta.  Spread the ricotta mixture onto your dough, leaving the crust clear.

Next, add the parmesan and the mozzarella.  The potatoes go right on top of the cheese layer.

I like to reserve a little mozzarella to sprinkle on top of the potatoes.  I also add a little more oregano and possibly some garlic (big surprise, I know).  Then sprinkle the rest of the rosemary over the potatoes.

When your oven is ready, slide the pizza in there.  You’re going to bake it for about 10 minutes.  Your oven may vary, so keep an eye on it.  When the cheese and the crust are both getting nice and brown, it’s ready!

This pizza is an unusual treat, not to mention incredibly hardy.  Give it a try!