The Best Authentic Pizza To Order While In Italy If You're Not A Fan Of Tomato Sauce

The gold standard for pizza in Italy is pizza Margherita, with its classic toppings of tomato sauce, cheese, and fresh basil, matching the colors of the Italian flag. Savory tomato sauce is the base topping on this and many other pizzas in Italy, and the red sauce seems to be ever-present in the country's cuisine. So can you still enjoy pizza if you're not a big fan of tomato sauce? Absolutely. Many restaurants in Italy offer pizza bianca, or white pizza, that comes with an assortment of toppings, none of which are tomato sauce. The base topping on a pizza bianca is usually mozzarella cheese, cream, or pesto sauce, to which a wide variety of other toppings can be added — the only limit is your imagination. 

Antica Pizzeria di Matteo — considered one of the top pizzerias in the nation's pizza capital of Naples — lists a handful of pizza bianche on its menu. Among them, Bianca Würstel e Patatine has a base topping of mozzarella, to which cured meat, fried potatoes, and basil are added, whereas a veggie version, the Rucola, is topped with mozzarella, arugula, basil, and parmesan cheese flakes. Another famous Neopolitan pizzeria, 50 Kalò, serves five different kinds of pizza bianche, which are described as having a "white base" on its English menu. One creative option at 50 Kalò, the Nerano, comes with toppings of mozzarella, creamed zucchini, fried zucchini, shaved provolone, and spearmint. Yes, spearmint — this is maybe the only Italian dish we've heard of that might leave you with fresh breath. 

One important thing to know is that in Rome, pizza bianca is served without any toppings at all. Here, the dish is just a crispy pizza crust coated in high-quality olive oil and sprinkled with salt. This may seem boring to the American palate, but many Romans swear by the simplicity, snacking on them all day long. 

Besides offering pizza bianca, pizzerias in Italy do things a little differently than those in the United States. For example, you'll notice that Italian pizzerias won't pre-slice your pizza. Instead, it is served as whole and intact, which better preserves the flavor and the crust's crispiness. So be ready with your fork and knife to get to work on that steaming, gooey pie when it arrives at your table. Don't worry, it will definitely be worth the extra effort! Another thing you'll notice is that Italians drink beer with pizza rather than wine, even though the country makes more wine than any other in the world. To blend in with the locals, then, pair your pizza with a cold beer, and definitely skip the aperol spritz (those are reserved for the pre-dinner aperitivo). If you're stumped about where to go to sample the country's best pies, check out our guide to the best pizzerias in Italy. You'd be surprised — not all of these are located in Naples or Rome, or even in the south.