Lemon White Pie

Four cheeses, lemon-whipped ricotta, and fresh zest over the top. The white pie that finishes bright instead of heavy.

Time: 8 min | Yield: 1 pizzas | Difficulty: Easy | Serves: 3 | Published: 2026-07-24

Most white pies are a richness endurance test. This one uses lemon two ways to fix that, juice mixed into the ricotta before baking, and fresh zest showered over the finished pie.

The base is a four-cheese blend: low-moisture mozz, torn fresh mozz, cubed fontina, and pecorino, with an optional heavy cream drizzle that keeps everything creamy through the bake. The seasoned ricotta gets spooned on in dollops so you get distinct creamy-tangy pockets instead of a uniform layer.

Zest at the end is non-negotiable. Zest that bakes loses its perfume; zest on a hot finished pie hits you before the first bite does.

Ingredients

Ingredients

• ¼ cup heavy cream (optional)
• handful of Pecorino Romano
• 1 cup low moisture mozzarella
• ½ fresh mozzarella torn in bits
• ½ cup of cubed Fontina

EVOO drizzle

• 1 cup ricotta
• salt
• pepper
• Parmigiano Reggiano
• Lemon Zest
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 550 degrees or as high as it can go on the convection setting.
2. Grab your dough of choice (reference my other recipes) and stretch to 14-16 inches.
3. Spread all the cheeses evenly on the dough
4. Optional drizzle heavy cream evenly over the cheeses. This gives a creamier texture and prevents the cheese from burning to fast.
   You'll know it's right: The cream drizzle keeps the cheese from burning and adds silk, optional but recommended for ovens that run hot on top.
5. In a separate bowl, mix ricotta, pinch of salt and pepper, and a tablespoon of lemon juice.
   You'll know it's right: The ricotta should taste noticeably lemony and lightly seasoned on its own, it dulls slightly in the oven, so season to slightly-too-bright.
6. Evenly spoon ricotta mixture on the pizza
   You'll know it's right: Dollops, not a spread. Spaced pockets of ricotta a couple inches apart bake into distinct creamy zones.
7. oil the crust if you like a deeper/darker bake on the crust
8. Bake in the oven for 8 minutes. Broil 1 minute if you like char.
9. Finish with Reggiano and lemon zest
   You'll know it's right: Zest only after the bake, directly over the hot pie. You should smell lemon the second it hits.
10. Enjoy!

Troubleshooting

Tasted flat and heavy

Lemon only went in one place, or not at all. Juice in the ricotta AND zest on the finish. The double hit is the recipe.

Ricotta was watery on the pie

Wet ricotta straight from the tub. If your ricotta is loose, drain it in a fine strainer for 15 minutes before mixing. It should hold a soft peak on a spoon.

Zest tasted bitter

Grated into the white pith. Zest only the yellow. Light pressure on a microplane, rotate the lemon as you go.

Cheese burned before the crust finished

No cream drizzle and top-heavy oven. Use the cream drizzle, and drop the rack one level if your broiler element runs aggressive.

Soggy center

Overloaded the ricotta dollops. A spoonful per dollop, spaced out. Ricotta is wet cargo, restraint keeps the center crisp.

Nutrition (2 slices (1/4 of a 14-inch pie)): 380 calories, 17g protein, 35g carbs, 19g fat.