Quattro Formaggi Pizza, Four Cheese

Quattro Formaggi Pizza – If you're looking for an ultra cheesy pizza then look no further than this classic! Homemade pizza dough topped with not one but four good cheeses. So rich and good you'll never have another pizza night without it!

It's fair to say we're a little obsessed with pizza, but that can never be a bad thing, right?

There are so many good variations that pizza night never gets boring whether we go for a classic Pizza Napoli (so simple yet good)Artichoke pizza or this cheesy beauty, Quattro Formaggi.

Yes, that's four cheese pizza, four! We mean, isn't that every cheese lovers dream?

In Italy, they have this 4 formaggi cheese spread and if you go to the wrong pizzeria or tourist trap you'll get that spread all over your pizza instead of real cheese, you can imagine our disappointment whenever this happened (always read the description, ha!).

A REAL four cheese pizza is made with four good and good cheeses on a light and crispy pizza crust spread with tomato sauce. It's good!

It's also sometimes served as a white pizza, if you prefer you can skip the tomato sauce.

Ingredients you need

First, you'll need to prepare the pizza dough which needs around 3-4 hours to prove (at least). To make it you need Flour (preferably Italian Tipo 00)fast-action yeast, salt, olive oil and warm water.

Top tip: For an in-depth guide with lots of tips check out our Basic Pizza Dough Recipe.

For the four cheese topping you'll need tomato sauce, mozzarella, gorgonzola, Parmigiano Reggiano and goat cheese. You can replace the cheese with any of your favourite cheeses but we'd say that mozzarella is pretty important.

How to make Quattro Formaggi Pizza – step by step

Make the pizza dough

First, put the flour, salt and yeast in a bowl making sure to put the salt and yeast at opposite sides (photo 1).

Add the water and olive oil and mix together to form a rough dough (photos 2 & 3).

Shape the dough into a ball then knead on a lightly floured surface for around 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic (photo 4).

After kneading shape the dough into a ball and place in a large clean bowl lightly greased with olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and sit the dough in a dry warm place for 2-3 hours or until tripled in size (photos 5 & 6).

Once the dough has risen, knock the air out by pressing down on it with your fist. Divide in half and shape into two separate balls ready for baking.

Assemble the pizza

You can either shape the dough with your hands or roll it out. Place it on a tray sprinkled with semolina or flour (photo 1).

Spread the base with tomato sauce then top with cheese (photos 2 & 3).

Bake the pizza in a pre-heated oven until golden, bubbling and melted. Let it sit for 5 minutes before cutting (photo 4).

Top tips and recipe FAQs

• Pizza dough – prep your pizza dough in advance so it has enough time to prove, our recipe makes enough dough for two large pizzas. Alternatively, if you're short on time check out our Instant Pizza Dough recipe (yeast free).
• Tomato sauce – High-quality crushed strained tomatoes (Italian passata) is a quick and easy alternative to making tomato sauce. We use this a lot and it's great alternatively you can make our Italian tomato sauce suited to pizza!
• Cheese – you can choose whatever cheeses you like make sure they are good melting cheeses. We always use mozzarella and then choose something like gorgonzola, taleggio, stracchino or crescenza and parmesan.
• Baking – pre-heat your oven to the highest temperature. For more tips and tricks on making homemade pizza check out our quick guide on the best tools or flour to use!

Can we freeze this pizza?

Yes, you can freeze leftover pizza or raw pizza dough. Thaw completely before using.

More Italian Pizza recipes you might like

• Quattro Stagioni Pizza – Four Seasons Pizza
• Cheesy Potato Pizza
• Sicilian Pizza (Lo Sfincione)
• Basil Pesto Pizza with Mozzarella & Roasted Tomatoes
• Taleggio Mushroom Pizza

Ingredients

Makes 12 Servings (makes 2 large pizzas)

Pizza Dough

• 4 cups Italian 00 flour ((1.1 lb/500g))
• 2 tsp fast action dried yeast ((7g))
• 1 1/3 cups lukewarm water ((320ml))
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 pinch pinch salt
• 0.5 tsp sugar
• semolina or regular flour (for dusting)

Toppings

• 2 balls mozzarella ((250g))
• 1/2 cup gorgonzola ((100g))
• ½ cup goat cheese ((120g))
• ½ cup parmesan (freshly grated (40g))
• ½ cup crushed strained tomatoes (passata (200g))
• Black pepper (optional)

Method

Make the pizza dough

1. First, put the flour, salt and yeast in a bowl making sure to put the salt and yeast at opposite sides.

2. Make a well in the centre and add the water and olive oil. Mix it together until a rough dough forms. If it's too sticky you can gradually add a little more flour.

3. Dust a clean work surface with a little flour and knead the dough for around 10 minutes until it's smooth and elastic. If you lightly press your finger on the ball of dough it should spring back up easily.

4. Add 1/2 tbsp of olive oil to a large clean bowl and rub all over until the bowl is coated. Shape the dough into a ball and place in the bowl, rub the top of the dough with a tiny amount of olive oil.

5. Cover with plastic wrap (cling film) and leave in a warm place for at least 3-4 hours or until tripled in size.

Bake the pizza

1. Pre-heat the oven to your highest setting at least 450F/230C and add your baking trays to heat up.

2. Cut the dough into 2 or 4 depending on how big you'd like them then either roll out on a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin or shape with your hands to fit your baking tray.

3. Remove the baking tray from the oven and sprinkle with semolina or flour. Carefully place the pizza dough on top.

4. Spread the pizza base evenly with tomato sauce and sprinkle with even amounts of cheese. Bake until melted, bubbling and golden (around 10-15 minutes).

Kitchen notes

• Pizza dough prep your pizza dough in advance so it has enough time to prove, our recipe makes enough dough for two large pizzas. Alternatively, if you're short on time check out our Instant Pizza Dough recipe (yeast free).
• Cheese you can choose whatever cheeses you like make sure they are good melting cheeses. We always use mozzarella and then choose something like gorgonzola, goat cheese, taleggio, stracchino or Crescenta, and parmesan.
• Tomato sauce High-quality crushed strained tomatoes (Italian passata) is a quick and easy alternative to making tomato sauce. We use this a lot and it's great alternatively you can make our Italian tomato sauce suited to pizza!
• Baking pre-heat your oven to the highest temperature. For more tips and tricks on making homemade pizza check out our quick guide on the best tools or flour to use!
• Leftovers leftover pizza will keep well in the fridge for 2-3 days and can be eaten cold, reheated or frozen.
• Freezing You can freeze raw pizza dough (before proving) or cooked leftover pizza. Thaw completely before using.