Pickle & Pancetta Pizza

A pizza made with white garlic dill sauce and topped with pickles and pancetta.  

pickled pizza

Pickles on pizza? It sounds weird at first, I’ll give it that. But think about what people already top pizzas with anyway – salty pork and pepperoni, briny peppers and olives. A pickle is all the above, adding a salty crunch along with the unique flavors of dill, which complement the white garlic dill sauce the pickles sit upon.  

Throw on some savory pancetta, and you’ve got a pizza unlike any other.  

Time You Need 

  • Prep: 15-20 minutes  
  • Cooking: 25-30 minutes  
  • Yields: 1 pizza pie 

What You Need  

  • ~1 pound of pizza dough (homemade or store-bought)  
  • 1 cup Ricotta cheese 
  • 6-8 cloves of garlic, minced  
  • ½ cup chopped basil  
  • ~4 tbsp fresh chopped dill 
  • 1 tsp lemon juice  
  • 1 tsp black pepper  
  • 1 tbsp garlic powder 
  • Garlic salt, to taste  
  • 1 1/2 cups of milk  
  • 2 tbsp butter 
  • 3 tbsp flour  
  • ~15-20  dill pickle slices  
  • ~1 cup diced pancetta  
  • ~ 1 tsp olive oil  
  • 1/2 sweet yellow onion, sliced  
  • 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella  
  • ½ cup freshly shredded parmesan  

What You Do  

  • Preheat oven to 425.  
  • Roll out pizza dough into a flat circle and place on a pizza stone or a greased baking pan.  
  • Bake dough for ~8 minutes, then remove from oven and let cool.  
  • While pizza dough is in the oven, in a small skillet, add about one teaspoon of olive oil and set the stove to medium heat. Cook pancetta for 5 minutes. Once cooked, remove from skillet and place on a paper-towel-lined plate, setting to the side.  
  • To make the Garlic Dill White Sauce:  
  • In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and add garlic. Sautee garlic for about 1 minute, then whisk in flour, garlic powder, black pepper, and garlic salt (to taste). 
    Then add milk, slowly whisking until full incorporated with flour. Turn heat down to low, and add ricotta cheese, lemon juice, dill, and basil. Continue to stir until ricotta cheese fully melts into the sauce.  
  • Remove from heat and brush over pizza dough.  
  • Then top the pizza with the mozzarella and fresh parmesan.  
  • Finally, add onion slices, dill pickle slices, and cooked pancetta, distributing evenly over pizza.  
  • Place the baking sheet/pizza stone with pizza back into the oven and bake for an additional 12-15 minutes, or until cheese is a gooey golden brown.  
  • Let cool, slice up, and enjoy!