Ham and Broccoli Pizza with Delicious White Garlic Sauce
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In this house, there are only two Hot Pockets worth mentioning: Pepperoni or Broccoli, Ham and Cheese. So, when we ran out of pepperoni before Pizza Night, it was clear we were about to make a pie based on our favorite Hot Pocket instead. Enter, the Ham and Broccoli Pizza with White Sauce.
The creaminess of my favorite white sauce combined with the bite of sharp cheddar, the saltiness of the ham, and the green freshness of broccoli round out a perfect palette of flavors. I even sprinkled a bit of lemon zest and red pepper flake on top to really punch it up. You’ve got to try this pizza, friends!
Start with Great Pizza Dough
As always, I rely on my trusty Perfect Pizza Crust recipe. You can read more about that in the full post, but here’s the summary.
I have a little shopping list for the equipment we use. Keep in mind, we are some serious pizza makers. Every Saturday, I make dough for Pizza Night with my husband. Depending on your level of pizza-making commitment, here are my equipment recommendations:
The short version of my recipe is this:
- Warm 1/2 cup of filtered water in a glass measuring cup for 30 seconds in the microwave. You should be able to stir it with your finger to sense it is just barely warmer than body temperature. This is a shortcut to check that your water is 100ºF.
- Dissolve 1/2 tsp of granulated sugar in the water, and then sprinkle in 1 tsp of active dry yeast. Let it sit for 5 minutes until it’s frothy.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour, the yeasty water, 1/2 tsp salt, and 2 Tbsp olive oil.
- Once it’s incorporated, turn up the speed and let it knead for 15 minutes.
- You should be able to press a clean finger into the dough and have the print bounce back.
- Form your dough into a ball. Place it in an oiled glass bowl to proof. Cover, and rest the dough on the counter for 2 hours or in the fridge for 6 hours.
The Best White Sauce Recipe for Pizza
My favorite recipe for white pizza sauce comes from Lil Luna, but I made some tweaks so it works for us. For starters, I cut the recipe in half because I wasn’t prepared to deal with all the leftovers.
The second thing was that I needed to lighten it up. Yes, heavy cream is decadent and mouth-coating, but whole milk is just fatty enough without making you feel bad. We have to watch it around here because we’re sensitive to high-fat meals.
And lastly, I added a healthy dash of black pepper. This was just for a little kick, but also, my mother-in-law gifted me this bourbon-smoked black pepper, and I’ve been adding it to EVERYTHING.
Anyway, the quick and dirty of the white sauce is this:
- In a small saucepan, melt together 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, 1 Tbsp reduced fat cream cheese, and 1/4 cup of whole milk.
- When it’s all melty and wisps of steam appear, mix in 2 Tbsp grated parmesan, 1/4 tsp black pepper, and 1 tsp minced garlic.
- Whisk until combined, and then remove to a small container to cool completely.
Assembling a Ham and Broccoli Pizza
Aha! We’ve gotten to the good part. Now, I’m aware that this look labor intensive, but rest assured, this is a lot easier than it sounds. As your mixer is making that pizza dough (you know that 15 minutes of kneading time?), you can make the white sauce and move it to the fridge to cool.
Fast forward 2 to 6 hours, depending on how you chose to proof your dough. Now, it’s time to assemble this Hot Pocket-inspired pizza!
Prepare Your Pizza Crust
Place your pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven, and crank your oven up to as hot as it will get. Ours goes up to 550ºF.
Then, dust your pizza peel with a little bit of corn meal. Corn meal acts like ball bearings so your pizza slides easily off of the peel onto the stone.
Flour your work surface and press out your dough into a large, 16-inch wide round. You could even use a rolling pin if you find that easier. We do that most of the time to be a perfect circle. Then, transfer the dough to your dusted pizza peel, and cover for 10 minutes.
Dress Your Ham and Broccoli Pizza
Spread that gorgeous white sauce you made all over your pizza crust. Then layer a generous coating of shredded sharp cheddar all over the pie. You could mix in a bit of monterey jack for meltiness, or use colby jack for a milder flavor than cheddar.
Cut up your ham, and chop the broccoli small. Our Kroger has frozen bags of chopped broccoli that I like to use. This way I just have to warm up the frozen stuff and it’s already the right size.
The big thing is that I prefer the texture of cooked broccoli over fresh broccoli. Fresh tends to dry out and burn before the rest of the pizza cooks. I also used deli sliced ham over cubes because it crisps more like pepperoni.
Remember that you want to get your pizza assembled quickly so the crust doesn’t get soggy. If it does, the cornmeal will not be enough to unstick it from the peel.
Bake Your Ham and Broccoli Pizza
Once your oven is preheated and the pie is assembled, you need to get the pizza off the peel and onto the hot stone.
First things first, make sure all children and pets are out of the kitchen so no one runs in and gets burned. The oven is very hot!
Position the front edge of the peel near the back of the pizza stone and use small, jerking/shimmying motions to propel the pizza off the peel onto the stone.
I have a link to a helpful video tutorial in my Perfect Pizza Crust post if this seems too confusing. Just be confident. The peel senses fear. And trust me, it feels very natural when you’re doing it.
Bake it for about 5 minutes. Turn on the oven light and watch. You’ll want the crust to bake and the cheese to melt and become lightly burnished.
Remove the Pizza from the Oven
To remove the pizza from the oven, again, clear the kitchen of small creatures. Place the front edge of your peel under the pizza and jerk it forward and back, at a slight angle, to propel the pizza onto the peel. Again this will feel natural, but refer to the above linked video to bolster your confidence.
Time to Enjoy Some Ham and Broccoli Pizza!
Use the mezzaluna pizza cutter, or whichever cutter is your favorite, to cut the pie into 8 even slices. My husband and I share this pizza between the two of us, and he always makes the first cut slightly off center so his half is just a little bigger.
This is an old habit from my WW (the artist formerly known as Weight Watchers) days that we just are accustomed to. We also sprinkle over some lemon zest and red pepper flakes for added layers of flavor. This is optional.
Then we grab a couple of glasses of Sauvignon Blanc, which pairs pretty well, and settle in for a movie! For a family meal, you might make this pizza along with one of my other pizza night favorites:
Comment below if you have questions, concerns, or opinions. And tag me @ellejayathome on Instagram or Twitter if you share pictures from any of my recipes. I love to hear from you!
Ham and Broccoli Pizza with White Sauce
Equipment
- Stand mixer with dough hook attachment
- Medium mixing bowl
- Pizza Stone
- Pizza peel
- Pizza cutter
Ingredients
- 1 lb pizza dough
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp reduced fat cream cheese
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 2 Tbsp grated parmesan
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar or colby jack, for milder flavor
- ½ cup broccoli cooked, cooled, and chopped
- ½ cup sliced deli ham cut into 1 inch pieces
- zest of 1 lemon optional
- red pepper flakes optional
- cornmeal to dust
- flour to dust
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, melt together the butter, cream cheese and milk. Once melted and beginning to steam, whisk in the parmesan, garlic powder, and pepper to combine. Allow to cool completely.
- Place your pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven. Preheat the oven to 550ºF (or as hot as your oven will go).
- Dust your peel with corn meal, and dust the work surface with flour.
- Roll or press your pizza dough out into a 16-inch round. Transfer to the pizza peel.
- Distribute the white sauce all over the pizza crust.
- Cover the sauce with cheese, and then dress with broccoli and cheddar.
- Transfer the pizza from the peel to the preheated stone. Bake for 5 to 10 minutes, until the cheese is lightly browned and the crust is cooked through.
- Remove from the stone back onto the peel, and cut into 8 slices.
- Sprinkle on lemon zest and/or crushed red pepper as desired.
One Comment
Kelly Krebs
This recipe looks delicious and I can’t wait to make it! The pizza in the pictures looks absolutely amazing! Thanks for posting!