I’ve said it before, and I’ll probably keep saying it for the next five years, but there is truly not much that I miss about LA. But that just means the things I do miss are more memorable! One of those things is pizza from Quarter Sheets Pizza Club. I discovered it only a few weeks before leaving, so that’s probably why it sticks out so much. But truly, it’s one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had. And I only had it twice!
When Molly visited, we managed to get a table by showing up right at 5pm when they opened, but I think they’ve only gotten busier since I left, as they’ve been written up in various articles a few times since then (including being named some of the Best Pizza in America). I ordered a pizza for pickup a few weeks later, and I remember there was some race to order before they sold out for the day, and I ordered for lunch pickup. So, like with most good things in LA, it’s probably too popular to be enjoyable now. Classic. Good thing I have my fond memories of it. And, I have the ability to recreate it in my own home here in Minneapolis, where no one has to stand in line in 90 degree weather after spending 20 minutes looking for parking.
The pizza I was specifically looking to recreate was one that had pistachio pesto, but I couldn’t remember everything about it. And it was a seasonal item, so it isn’t on their menu anymore. I frantically scoured their Instagram, and then turned to Reddit, and then started looking for Yelp reviews from August 2023, but no dice. Then I remembered that I had ordered it for takeout, and I thankfully still had the receipt in my email. The pizza was the Bianca. Unfortunately, their Bianca pizza seems to change periodically, because I found some descriptions of Bianca pizzas that I knew were wrong. But I knew when I ordered it, and what sounded right, so I was able to dig up this photo from someone’s Yelp review that mentioned the Bianca pizza:
So I knew what to work with: sungold tomatoes, garlic cream, pistachio pesto, sausage, mozzarella, fresno chili, pecorinco, basil. And I also found a TikTok from some random guy who described everything on it, reminded me it had a sourdough feel, and gave a close up to the camera. Thank you, random man. I didn’t recall any major spiciness to the pizza, and I couldn’t find any fresno chilis in my photos or in the TikTok, so I’m thinking it must have been somewhat subtley used in one of the components. I decided to leave it out. And I decided not to invest in making a sourdough starter just for this pizza… That’s too dangerous a rabbit hole at this time. But I knew everything else that needed to be included!
From there, it was just a matter of hunting down or recreating all the components. And not to go on another tangent, but finding fresh basil for the pesto proved to be the most difficult part of this endeavor. I went to three stores, and was looking up inventory at even more stores, and nobody was carrying it. Finally, at a Cub that carried every single other fresh herb in triplicate, but didn’t even have an empty space where basil was, I found them selling basil plants. It was only $5.50. So I bought one. And because I saw a video on the internet a few days ago of someone demonstrating how to get a basil plant to survive, I was overcome with a wave of confidence (hubris) and figured I’d attempt to keep it alive. It just seemed incredibly tragic to buy a living plant, strip it of all its leaves, and then throw it in the trash. And even if I fail, I got a whole bunch of basil for $5.50.
I know we’re all super interested in my basil tangent, but… look at how packed the roots are in these plants they sell! There’s like 7 basil plants crammed in there!! They should hopefully thrive with a bit more space.
The other extra length I went to here was trying to acquire Sungold Tomatoes. They are not just sold at a grocery store, so I decided to go to a Farmer’s Market. (It was on my Summer Bucket List anyways, so not a huge lift.) I didn’t find them, but I found fresh grape tomatoes, and some of them were yellow, so that was close enough for me. And I think this recipe is still great even with regular tomatoes.
Making this pizza is a bit of a project. The focaccia crust rises for two hours, and about one hour of that is needed to prep all the other components. Nothing is particularly difficult! It just takes some time and coordination. It’s worth it though. I just did it on a Saturday night!
And you can put in as much or as little effort into this as you want. You don’t have to make your own pesto (and buy a basil plant in the process). You don’t need to go to a Farmer’s market. You could buy garlic sauce. You could leave off or add anything. Go nuts!
The annoying thing is this took long enough to make that it got dark by the time I was done, so these are next day photos. I feel like you can tell it looks cold. Please excuse that. This is why there’s less real food on the blog! It’s hard to photograph! This was it fresh out of the oven:
Anyways… I think I’ve written enough here! Recreating a recipe takes a lot more research than just adapting or copying one, so it’s prone to tangents such as me becoming a plant owner. But I’ve found myself recently wanting to recreate recipes I’ve had at restaurants, so expect more of that coming soon! Because even if it wasn’t as perfect as the pizza I remember from Quarter Sheets… I got pretty darn close, and it tastes pretty satisfying to have made it myself!
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PinIngredients
1 recipe Focaccia Crust (see below)
For the Garlic Cream:
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2–3 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups half & half milk works fine, too
For the Pistachio Pesto:
3 cups lightly-packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/3 cup shelled pistachios
3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
The rest of the toppings:
Mozzarella (whole, not shredded)
Ground Italian sausage
Sungold Tomatoes (halved) (Regular cherry tomatoes is fine)
Fresh basil (if desired)
Pecorino or Parmesan (finely grated)
Instructions
- Prepare your crust following the recipe below, and get to the stage right before putting it in the oven. While it’s rising, you can prepare everything else
- Make the Pesto: In a food processor or blender, pulse the basil, Parmesan, pistachios, garlic, salt and pepper together until finely-chopped.
- With the food processor or blender still running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until it is completely combined. Pause the food processor or blender and scrape down the sides, then pulse again until the mixture is smooth.
- Serve immediately. Or refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
- Make the Garlic Cream: In a skillet on medium-high heat, heat oil. Add the garlic and heat for about 3 minutes, until fragrant.
- Add the flour (start with 2 tablespoons) and salt. Whisk well.
- Add the half & half all at once, whisking constantly. Cook and stir until bubbly and until thickened (usually about 3 minutes)
- Prepare the rest: Cook your sausage in a pan, chop your tomatoes, and break up your mozzarella.
- When you’re ready to assemble: preheat the oven to 425.
- You don’t want to overload the crust too much here, so it keeps the height that focaccia has. Start by dolloping on some of the garlic cream. Then, sprinkle the sausage and tomatoes. Dollop on some pistachio pesto, and then layer on some chunks of mozzarella. Grate some pecorino or parmesan over the top.
- Bake for 18-21 minutes, until the crust starts to turn a light golden brown.
Ingredients
¾ cup barely warm water (105-110°F is ideal)
1 ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
2 ½ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt, plus extra for sprinkling on top
½ cup olive oil, divided use
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Place the warm water in a small bowl, and sprinkle the yeast and sugar on top. Stir to dissolve, and let sit for 15 minutes. At the end of 15 minutes, it should be very foamy and noticeably alive. It may even bubble as you stare at it!
- Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour, salt, and half of the olive oil (¼ cup). Fit the dough hook attachment into the mixer, and turn it on briefly to mix the ingredients together.
Pour the foamy yeast water into the flour mixture. Turn the mixer to medium and knead for 5 minutes. Stop and scrape the dough down every minute or so. If you don’t have a dough hook and a stand mixer, just use your hands! - At the end of 5 minutes, the dough may be slightly sticky, but that’s fine.
- Flour a surface, and knead the dough for about 30 seconds–the stickiness will completely disappear.
- Grease a small bowl, and place the dough inside. Let rest in a warm place until it doubles in size, about an hour in my cold, drafty house by the oven.
- Pour two tablespoons of the remaining olive oil on a quarter sheet pan (measures 9 x 13 x 1″), and spread it evenly. Add the dough to the pan, and use your fingers to spread it to the corners of the pan. Try not to make too many holes, but some are okay.
- Brush the final 2 tablespoons of olive oil on top of the dough, and place in a warm place to rise again until doubles, about 1 hour again.
- Now it’s ready to be topped and used in the pizza!