Garlic Shrimp Pizza Recipe

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The best pizza I've had in my life wasn't Neapolitan, or even New York style. Instead, it was a thinly stretched, wood-fired, artisanal pizza with a layer of white ricotta sauce and plenty of lemon zest. It was that pizza that inspired this garlic shrimp pizza recipe, and one I hope will inspire you to give this unusual flavor combination a try.

I must have heard the myth of never mixing cheese and fish over a million times. But as a recipe developer and blogger, if there's one thing I love, it's messing with these truths that are nothing more than friendly suggestions waiting to be disproven. This pizza is the perfect example that refutes this logic: a garlic ricotta base instead of tomato, shrimp briefly marinated in chile flakes and lemon, and a finish of citrus-flavored honey, fresh basil, and chili oil that keeps things bright and unpredictable. The flavors are sharp, zesty, creamy, and spicy all at once, and lemon is the dominant taste that lingers on your tongue.

The inspiration for this pizza came from a little artisanal pizza place in the town of Lake Gandolfo in Italy, next to the summer residence of the Pope. All the pizzas were cooked in large wood-fired ovens, the design of the menu was modern and poppy, and the pizza combinations were surprising yet familiar. The white ricotta base stole our hearts, and I couldn't wait to play around with it. But after tasting this garlic shrimp combo a few times, it just might be my new favorite.

For the garlic ricotta base that truly makes this pizza, you'll need extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, dry white wine, whole milk ricotta, lemon zest, and kosher salt. For the chile shrimp, gather large shrimp that have been peeled, deveined, and halved lengthwise. You may even want to get raw shrimp and peel them, just steer clear from cooked shrimp. To flavor them, use extra-virgin olive oil, chile flakes, lemon zest, and kosher salt.

For the pizza itself, you'll need semolina flour, your favorite pizza dough — I get mine from a nearby pizza place — fresh mozzarella, finely grated Parmesan cheese, fresh lemon juice, honey, fresh basil leaves, lemon zest, flaky sea salt, and a chili oil, which is basically good-quality olive oil infused with chiles.

Place a pizza stone or baking sheet on the middle oven rack and preheat the oven to 500 F for at least 1 hour.

Heat the 3 tablespoons olive oil and garlic in a small skillet over medium-low heat until the garlic is fragrant and just turning pale gold, about 2 minutes.

Add the white wine and simmer until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes.

Combine the garlic mixture, ricotta, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, and ¼ teaspoon salt together in a bowl until smooth.

Toss the shrimp with the 2 tablespoons olive oil, chile flakes, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, and ½ teaspoon salt. Set aside for 15 to 30 minutes.

Dust a sheet of parchment paper with the semolina flour.

Stretch the dough into a 14-inch round on the parchment, leaving the edge slightly thicker.

Spread the garlic ricotta over the dough, leaving a 1-inch border. Scatter the mozzarella and Parmesan evenly on top.

Slide the pizza on the parchment onto the preheated stone. Bake for 6 minutes, until the crust is set and the cheese is beginning to brown.

Remove the pizza and arrange the shrimp in a single layer over the cheese. Return to the oven and bake until the shrimp are pink and opaque and the crust is deep golden, 4 to 5 minutes more.

Whisk together the lemon juice and honey.

Top the hot pizza with the basil, then drizzle with the lemon honey and the chili oil. Finish with the 1 teaspoon lemon zest and the flaky sea salt, slice, and serve immediately.

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Snapping back is a common issue with pizzas, but it's usually caused by a few simple factors. It's almost always a sign that the dough is too cold, or that the gluten hasn't had enough time to relax. Luckily, both are easily fixable.

To prevent a pizza dough from snapping back, simply let the dough come fully to room temperature. This usually takes about 30 minutes, but I ideally like to give the dough an hour outside. Cold dough is tight and will resist any attempt to stretch it, so if you try to pull it and it springs back, give it another 15 to 20 minutes before attempting again.

For the stretching, expert pizzaiolos recommend that you work with your hands rather than a rolling pin. Press from the center outward with your fingertips, then drape the dough over your knuckles, and let gravity do the work. Go slowly and rotate the dough as you go along. This should give your dough the elasticity and structure you've come to expect from a great pizza place.

In the recipe, I recommend using a pizza stone or a baking sheet, and either works. Lately, my preference for pizza making has been a pizza steel, but really, stones, baking sheets, and pizza steels for a variety of different reasons.

A pizza steel conducts heat faster than a ceramic pizza stone, which means a crisper bottom, and is less fragile and easier to maintain because it can be washed with water. The downside is also that it weighs a lot more. But really, both the stone and the steel work to give you a perfectly crisp crust.

If you don't have either, an inverted baking sheet preheated in the oven is my favorite shortcut. Flip the sheet upside down, preheat it for an hour, and slide the pizza onto it using parchment paper. You can even use a large enough cast iron pan. Whatever method you use, the most important thing is that you preheat it sufficiently.

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