Ingredients

1 garlic head, halved crosswise
2 large sprigs fresh rosemary
¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
2 cups bread flour, plus more for dusting
Coarse salt
½ teaspoon active dry yeast
1 ⅓ cups water
¼ cup white cornmeal

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place garlic and rosemary in a heatproof dish, and drizzle with oil. Cover, and roast until garlic has softened, about 40 minutes. Transfer garlic to a plate. Pour garlic-rosemary oil through a sieve into a bowl, discard rosemary, and let cool.
Meanwhile, put flour, 2 1/2 teaspoons salt, the yeast, and water into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix on low speed 5 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually raise speed to high, kneading until dough is shiny, sticky, and elastic, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer dough to a large oiled glass bowl, and cover with plastic. Let rise in a warm, draft-free place until tripled in bulk, about 2 1/2 hours. (Dough will be light and airy.)
Turn out dough onto a well-floured work surface. With floured hands, turn dough over a couple of times, and divide in half. Working with 1 portion at a time, stretch into a 14-by-5-inch rectangle, and starting at 1 short end, roll into an oval log. Brush logs generously with garlic-rosemary oil, using about 2 tablespoons per log. Sprinkle each with 3/4 teaspoon salt. Let rise in a warm, draft-free place for 45 minutes.
Put a 14-inch pizza stone into oven, and heat oven to 500 degrees.
Sprinkle 2 tablespoons cornmeal over a pizza peel, and lay a piece of dough on top. Using your fingers, dent and stretch dough in several places to form a 12-by-4-inch oval. Drizzle garlic-rosemary oil into dimples but not too close to edge of dough. Carefully slide onto preheated stone, stretching as you pull out the peel. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake until golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool slightly. Cut crosswise into slices, and serve with roasted garlic, garlic-rosemary oil or olive oil, and salt.

Cook's Notes

The process for this pizza was devised by a renowned pizza bianca maker of Campo de Fiore in Rome. He handed it down to Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery in New York City, who taught it to food critic Jeffrey Steingarten, whose writing on it inspired our variation. You should use a 14-inch pizza stone and wooden peel. (You can use the back of a rimmed baking sheet instead of the peel.)