Pizza bianca is Rome's salt-and-olive-oil flatbread: a long focaccia-like dough baked in a wood oven, salted and oiled, sold by weight at the city's forni for €3 to €4 per slice.
Where to eat it: 4 restaurants across 1 city.
Pizza bianca evolved from the Roman testing-bread (panaria) that bakers used to check oven temperature: a stretched-out, salted, oiled dough thrown into the wood-fired forno before the morning loaves. The bakers found it sold faster than the bread it was meant to test, and pizza bianca became the daily Roman snack of the 19th and 20th centuries. Forno Campo de' Fiori codified the modern form: long rectangular pieces, sold by weight, often eaten standing on the street with a slice of mortadella inside. Forno Roscioli sells the modern version closest to the canonical bianca; the Bonci Panificio version is the most-discussed modern interpretation with a 72-hour fermented dough.
Common allergens: Gluten
Tip from the editors. Hydration is high; the dough is wet. Use a wet hand to handle it. The dimpled top holds the oil and salt; do not skip the dimples.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Forno Campo de' Fiori in Rome bakes pizza bianca by weight at €3-4 per slice. Cut a chunk, walk to the piazza, eat standing: the cheapest filling lunch in the Centro Storico.
Try: Pizza bianca by weight
Tip: Cash only. Open Mon-Sat 07:30 to 14:30 and 16:45 to 20:00; closed Sunday.
The Roscioli family's Antico Forno in Rome's Centro Storico is the 200-year-old neighbourhood bakery counter, with pizza bianca, pizza rossa, and the city's best maritozzo to order.
Signature: Pizza bianca, Pizza rossa, Maritozzo
Order: Pizza bianca (the classic), pizza rossa with anchovies, and a maritozzo con la panna.
Tip: Open Mon to Sat 07:00 to 19:30; closed Sunday. The maritozzo sells out by 11:00.
Gabriele Bonci's Panificio in Rome's Prati district sells pizza bianca and pizza rossa by weight at €4-6 per slice, with the saltless Roman loaf at €4 per kilo.
Try: Pizza bianca, pizza rossa by weight
Tip: Open Mon-Sat 07:30 to 20:00; closed Sunday. The 18:00 batch is the afternoon drop.
Panella in Rome's Esquilino quarter runs an all-day bakery brunch with pizza bianca slices, frittatas, sandwiches and the cornetto-and-cappuccino counter from 07:00.
Order: Pizza bianca with mortadella plus a cornetto and cappuccino at the bar.
Tip: Open daily 07:00 to 22:00. The pizza bianca lunch counter heats up at 12:00; arrive before for the freshest.
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