White Pizza with Olive Tapenade and Spinach

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Dough base

1. 1
   Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl.

   Bowl
2. 2
   Add the lukewarm water and olive oil and Knead about 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth, pliable and doesn't stick to your hands.

   ⚙ KneadingBowlStand mixer

   💡For yeast dough, use the windowpane test: a small piece stretches into a thin, translucent sheet without tearing, and that's the sign the kneading is done. Add flour only by the tablespoon, and only if the dough is still sticky after a few minutes: too much flour makes a tough dough.
3. 3
   Cover and Let rise about an hour and a half in a warm place, until the dough doubles in size.

   ⚙ ProofingPlastic wraporKitchen towel

   💡Let rise in a warm, draft-free spot. The dough is ready when it has doubled, and a gentle finger press leaves a dent that fills back slowly; if it springs right back, wait longer.

For the Blended Spread

1. 4
   Grind the olives and capers in a food processor with the garlic in short pulses, to a coarse, even texture.

   ⚙ Grinding in a Food ProcessorFood processor

   💡In a food processor, grind in short pulses and check between pulses: it's easy to go from coarse to paste. (Sesame for tahini, on the other hand, is ground continuously.)
2. 5
   Add the olive oil gradually, while blending in a food processor, until a coarse puree forms, before it turns smooth.

   ⚙ Fat in a Thin StreamFood processor

   💡The thin stream is everything: fat that goes in too fast can't bind, and the sauce breaks. For mayonnaise and hollandaise, if this happens, start with a fresh yolk and slowly add the broken sauce to it; if the sauce is too thick, thin it with a teaspoon of water.

To assemble

1. 6
   Preheat the oven to 250–275°C (480–525°F), with a baking stone inside.

   ⚙ Preheating the OvenOven

   💡A home oven doesn't reach the heat of a professional pizza oven, but you can get close: preheat the oven to its maximum temperature (250°C (480°F)+) with a pizza stone or an upside-down baking sheet inside for at least 45 minutes before baking.

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
2. 7
   Roll out the dough (or stretch it by hand) into a thin round on a floured surface and transfer to parchment paper.

   ⚙ Rolling Out DoughRolling pinParchment paper

   💡Pizza dough that doesn't shrink: when the dough shrinks back as you roll it, let it rest covered for 5 minutes. The gluten needs to 'relax'. After that it will roll out easily.

   💡For crisp homemade pizza dough: after rising, don't roll it out with a rolling pin but stretch it gently by hand. Stretching by hand keeps the air bubbles formed during rising and creates an authentic bubbly crust.

   💡Let the pizza dough rise for 24 hours in the fridge (a long cold rise) — the dough develops a deeper flavor and an airy texture with big bubbles.

   💡3 cups of flour (about 400 g) make 2–3 thin pizzas: divide the dough into balls before rolling, rather than stretching it all into one thick pizza.

   💡Roll from the center outward and give the dough a quarter turn between rolls: this keeps it even in thickness and stops it sticking to the counter. If it springs back, cover for 10–15 minutes and try again.
3. 8
   Scatter the mozzarella and ricotta over the top.
4. 9
   Dot the tapenade over the top, about 2 tbsp per pizza.
5. 10
   Slide the pizza on its paper onto the hot stone and bake 8–10 minutes, until the edges are golden and the cheese bubbles.

   OvenBaking stone (pizza stone)Parchment paper
6. 11
   Take out of the oven and add the spinach leaves and olive oil.