White Pizza with Ricotta, Garlic, and Lemon

August is when we make this the most. The outdoor oven is already hot from a pizza session, we have half a container of ricotta in the fridge, and nobody wants a heavy red sauce in the middle of summer.

This white pizza is the answer. Ricotta base, thinly sliced garlic, mozzarella, and a squeeze of fresh lemon right after the bake. That’s it.

What You Need

• Ricotta — whole milk, drained if it looks watery. Skim ricotta will make this taste like nothing.
• Low-moisture mozzarella — shredded, not fresh. Fresh mozzarella adds too much water here and fights the ricotta.
• Garlic — sliced thin, not minced. Minced burns before the crust is done.
• Good olive oil — for the base and for finishing. This is one of those pizzas where the finishing oil actually matters.
• One lemon — zest and juice, applied after the bake. Not during.
• Red pepper flakes — optional, but we always add them.
• Pecorino — a small handful grated over the top before baking. It adds salt and edge that ricotta can’t provide on its own.

How to Build It

Stretch your dough to your normal size. Don’t par-bake it — this goes into the oven fully loaded.

Spread a thin, even layer of ricotta across the dough. Thin is the word. You want coverage, not a pile. Too much and the center never sets right.

Scatter the garlic slices across the top. Lay the mozzarella over that. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil, the pecorino, and the red pepper flakes if you’re using them.

The Bake

Your stone should be reading 750 to 800°F if you’re on an Ooni Koda 12 or similar. This pizza runs hotter than a margherita because the white base doesn’t have the moisture buffer that tomato sauce provides — it can dry out fast if the stone is too aggressive.

Watch the edges. Two minutes in, give it a turn. Total bake time is usually two and a half to three minutes. Pull it when the crust is set and the cheese has color in spots.

The Finish — Do Not Skip This

The lemon is not decoration. Squeeze half the lemon over the hot pizza the moment it comes off the oven. Add the zest from the whole lemon. Then a second drizzle of olive oil.

That acid hits the rich ricotta and cuts right through it. Without it, this pizza is good. With it, it’s the one people ask about.

Real-World Note

We want to be upfront: ricotta does not reheat well on pizza. This is a eat-it-now situation. Leftovers go grainy and the lemon brightness fades overnight. Make what you’ll finish.

Try This Next

If you haven’t dialed in your finishing oil habit yet, spend five minutes with our post on when finishing oil actually matters — it changes how you think about a few of these no-sauce builds.