White Pizza Recipe with Prosciutto, Melon, & Arugula

As summer winds down, our CSA starts delivering produce that typically pops up during the summer-to-fall transition.

We’ve been drowning in our fruit CSA, unable to keep up with the delivery. So I’ve given up on trying to eat it raw and have turned to getting creative with my recipes. Heck, I’ve been making homemade applesauce since July.

As soon as September 1 hit, my mind moved to fall. This has made it even more unlikely that I’m going to slice up all the fresh melon we’ve been getting or make an arugula salad. So instead of letting it all go to waste, I thought to myself, “What can I make instead?”

The answer? Pizza. And not just any pizza, but a white pizza that used my healthy-ish Alfredo sauce instead of tomato sauce.

White Pizza Recipe with Prosciutto, Melon, & Arugula

There are so many great homemade pizza dough recipes out there. If you’re feeling motivated, I highly recommend making your own crust.

I was not motivated when I developed this recipe so I used store-bought dough. I’ve taken a liking to Whole Foods pizza dough and the summer season makes it really difficult to cook with all my travel. So consider this an easy, peasy weeknight meal!

I also think this pizza would be especially good on a grill. Bon Appetit has a guide to grilling pizza on different types of grills.

What does this white pizza recipe taste like?

I love how there are a lot of different flavors going on in this white pizza recipe. It’s salty and earthy from the different cheese, thyme, and prosciutto. But then it has this sweet hit from the melon and a bite of bitter from the arugula.

As far as texture goes, the pizza dough has that familiar chew, but the pizza tastes creamier thanks to the Alfredo sauce. I also love how the prosciutto crisps up in the oven and offers a satisfying snap, crackle, and pop.

The Recipe

Serves 2 | Active time: 40 mins | Total time: 60 mins

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. butter
• ~1/2 heaping C of diced onion
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• Pepper from a pepper mill (to taste)
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 1 Tbsp. flour
• 1 C whole milk
• 4 oz. cream cheese
• 1/2 C finely grated pecorino Romano cheese, plus more to garnish (or similar)
• Fresh ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp. fresh thyme, minced
• 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lb. pizza dough (I get mine at Whole Foods)
• 1/4 C shredded mozzarella cheese
• ~1/4 cantaloupe, cut into 1/4″ slices (basically to taste)
• 2 prosciutto slices, torn into bite-sized pieces
• handful of arugula, washed

Directions:

Step 1

Add the butter to a large saucepan over medium heat. When foaming, add the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 min. Add 1/4 tsp. salt & 4 turns from a pepper mill.

Step 2

Add the garlic, lemon zest, and flour. Cook until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.

Step 3

Add the milk and whisk constantly until thickened, about 7 minutes. It should be the consistency of heavy cream. Don’t let it bubble aggressively because you don’t want to scald the milk.

Step 4

Add a few swipes of fresh nutmeg from a microplane, the thyme, and 1/2 C pecorino Romano cheese. Whisk until melted. Add the cream cheese and whisk until melted and thickened, about 3 minutes. It should be the consistency of melted cream cheese. Set aside to a burner on low heat to let cool, stirring every so often to prevent skin from forming.

Step 5

Next, preheat the oven to 500°F or as high as your oven will go. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and add a coating of extra virgin olive oil with a pastry brush. Sprinkle with flour.

Step 6

Sprinkle flour on an even surface and place pizza dough on it. Roll with a rolling pin until stretched out to about 1/4″ thick. Transfer to the cookie sheet and stretch with your hands as needed to fill the cookie sheet. It’s ok if it springs back a bit.

Step 7

Brush the pizza dough with olive oil. Then ladle ~1/2 C of the white sauce into the center of the dough, spreading out evenly with the bottom of the ladle. Leave about 1.5″ border around the edges for crust. Add more sauce as needed, but don’t drown the dough in it. Reserve leftover sauce for another use, such as pasta.

Step 8

Sprinkle half the mozzarella cheese on the pizza, avoiding the crust. Put pizza in the oven and bake for 10 minutes until the crust begins to golden and cheese melts.

Step 9

Remove from the oven and scatter melon, prosciutto, and arugula around the pizza, avoiding the crust. Top with remaining mozzarella cheese and some pecorino Romano cheese to taste. Put it back in the oven for 10 minutes. The edges should be deeply golden brown and the cheese melted.

Step 10

Remove the pizza and let cool for 5-10 minutes. Slice and enjoy!

Nutritional Information Per Serving:

Calories: 585 | Calories from fat: 155.3 | Fat: 18.2 | Saturated fat: 8.1g | Cholesterol: 42.3mg | Sodium: 795mg | Carbs: 77.2g | Fiber: 3.6g | Sugars: 10.5g | Protein: 24.3g

Pin This White Pizza Recipe for Later

Nutritional Facts Disclaimer: I am not a registered nutritionist and therefore these numbers are approximate. I researched the serving sizes and facts for each ingredient in this recipe (mostly using the manufacturer labels and this site), but slight variations in things like seasoning, garnishes, and substitutions can change the nutritional information. Use this information only as a general indication of your nutritional intake.