Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Pizza Toppings: Simple/Elaborate, Traditional/Unusual


stagis

Recommended Posts

Not my own invention, but last night, I made the Fava, Ricotta and Lemon Pizza from Joe Yonan's Cool Beans cookbook.

IMG_2208.thumb.jpeg.8e1c48e8b375b6456056d01f788b6478.jpeg

 

IMG_2212.thumb.jpeg.4c32529e7b16279aebc303199b6bf9c2.jpeg

 

IMG_2213.thumb.jpeg.1c0d6d48f77bfb47f5c4549ef8109f85.jpeg

The dough - I bought one of the refrigerated dough balls from TJ's for the first time - gets topped with dollops of a fava/toasted pistachio/mint pesto, ricotta, lemon slices and favas.  More mint goes on after baking.  

This was good, but not great.  That pesto was absolutely tongue-tingling delicious right out of the blender but muted after baking with the ricotta and everything else.  I think these ingredients would shine more brightly on crostini or even pasta and I'd likely replace the lemon slices with slivers of preserved lemon. 

  • Like 3
  • Delicious 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Inspired by Fuchsia Dunlop's Land of Plenty, tonight's pizza was a (now two-day old) sourdough crust topped with sauce of chile oil and sediment, light soy, sesame paste, and chinkiang vinegar. To that I added peanuts and the spine of a cabbage pre-bake, and post-bake the rest of the cabbage and some toasted sesame seeds.

 

Pre-bake:

20200328-182351.jpg

 

Post-bake:

20200328-185407.jpg

 

Slice:

20200328-185454.jpg

  • Like 6
  • Delicious 2

Chris Hennes
Director of Operations
chennes@egullet.org

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, weinoo said:

Blech.

I thought that might be your reaction. In truth, it was... OK. Tasted like one of Dunlop's Sichuan noodle dishes, but crunchier. I ate it, but I probably wouldn't make it again. It was also sort of ridiculously spicy, you have to use a lot of chile oil to get reasonable coverage.

  • Like 3

Chris Hennes
Director of Operations
chennes@egullet.org

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One of the area "artisanal" pizza shops, which has gone to limited take out only, is now also offering "pizza kits" which include two pieces of dough, cheese, sauce, and some fresh basil...add your own toppings.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1

"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast" - Oscar Wilde

Link to comment
Share on other sites

(shrug) Not a combination I'm fond of to begin with, so doubly unwelcome on a pizza.

“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, chromedome said:

(shrug) Not a combination I'm fond of to begin with, so doubly unwelcome on a pizza.

I never heard of ham and pineapple pizza until I moved to CA in the early seventies. Nor have I ever eaten or been served ham with those Sunset Magazine pineapple rings thumb-tacked to it. I just assumed the pizza was a west coast version of something invented in Hawaii. It was usually on the menu as a Hawaiian Pizza. I certainly don't see it on the menus of artisan pizza places these days. Nettles? yes. Pineapple no. So we make it at home when our daughter comes back to visit from Atlanta: Fresh Pineapple and Black Forest Pizza. She is always thrilled, since she doesn't know any better. After all it's what Mom and Dad made for her as a kid. My husband eats it, but he thinks it's pretty stupid. Of course he makes the crust so he has an investment.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Katie Meadow said:

I never heard of ham and pineapple pizza until I moved to CA in the early seventies. Nor have I ever eaten or been served ham with those Sunset Magazine pineapple rings thumb-tacked to it. I just assumed the pizza was a west coast version of something invented in Hawaii. It was usually on the menu as a Hawaiian Pizza.

It was actually invented by a Greek-born restaurateur in Ontario, oddly enough (he passed away last year).

 

When I moved to the Prairies at the beginning of the 80s, I'd never seen or heard of it. I got a job in a pizzeria, and one of my tasks was to answer the phone if the main order-taker was busy. Someone ordered the Hawaiian, and there was a box for that, so I just ticked the box and took the rest of the order. I asked the cook WTH was a Hawaiian pizza, and he thought I was joking. Then he told me, and I thought *he* was joking.  :P

In an interview late in his career, league-hopping pro QB Doug Flutie was asked about the cultural adjustments involved in moving to/playing in Canada. He specifically mentioned Hawaiian pizza as one of those cultural differences. He apparently phoned his brother Darren*, then still at college, and told him "You'll never guess what they put on pizza up here!"

 

(*Darren Flutie would go on to have a HOF career himself in the CFL, as one of the finest receivers to ever grace the field. He was primarily a slot receiver of Julian Edelman style, a guy who made those tough catches in traffic in the middle of the field. Not especially big or especially fast, but he had a real knack for getting open just at the crucial moment, and he seldom dropped a ball that came anywhere near him.)

 

 

  • Like 1

“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Down here, barbecue pizza is a big thing. Tomato-based barbecue sauce instead of regular tomato sauce, pulled pork barbecue, mozzarella. I add a sprinkle of barbecue rub to mine. Served with slaw on the side. Not half bad. Key is to be sparing with both sauce and cheese.

  • Like 2
  • Delicious 1

Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, chromedome said:

 

(*Darren Flutie would go on to have a HOF career himself in the CFL, as one of the finest receivers to ever grace the field. He was primarily a slot receiver of Julian Edelman style, a guy who made those tough catches in traffic in the middle of the field. Not especially big or especially fast, but he had a real knack for getting open just at the crucial moment, and he seldom dropped a ball that came anywhere near him.)

 

Must've been all that pineapple and ham he was eating 🤣 !

  • Haha 2

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tonight I swung to the other end of the pizza spectrum:

20200331-191111.jpg

 

That's a sourdough crust (of course), baked on a steel, topped with fresh mozzarella and a few scraps of leftover cheddar. The sauce is a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes, a squeeze of tomato paste, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.

  • Like 7
  • Delicious 3

Chris Hennes
Director of Operations
chennes@egullet.org

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I admit to being boring when it comes to pizza. 

I prefer the more  traditional toppings, of just Italian sausage and mushroom and sometimes with olives.  

 

 And to be honest, if we had a decent place to order pizza from,  I probably wouldn't even bother to make pizza.

I only make them because Moe and Matt like homemade pizza. 

 

172430599_ItalianSausageandMushroomPizzaRimJanuary8th20191.thumb.jpg.7d0e4be2815ce4039b01e1f5b4732b32.jpg

I'd be happy just eating the rim.

 

I prefer an uncooked sauce and have simplified it over the years. I drain a can of plum tomatoes, pulse right in the can

with the immersion blender,  and season with fresh garlic,  dried oregano, a little basil and some fennel seed, salt, pepper and a few chili flakes. And a splash of

olive oil.

 

214984603_GreekPotatoPizzaNovember7th20193.thumb.jpg.53e6432c656781399a10cad9c526266b.jpg

 

My son loves the Greek Pizza I make with potatoes. 

 

172811671_GreekPotatoPizzaNovember7th20192.thumb.jpg.a416f8d1affd506ce9cc46ef18b97bfa.jpg

 

  • Like 6
  • Delicious 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Ann_T 

 

Id love to try your version of Greek pizza w potatoes

 

I bet Id love it    .   anything w potatoes has to be worth a taste

 

[ed.:  usual standard rules always apply :  no GBP and no eggplant ]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@Ann_T 

 

Id love to try your version of Greek pizza w potatoes

 

I bet Id love it    .   anything w potatoes has to be worth a taste

 

[ed.:  usual standard rules always apply :  no GBP and no eggplant ]

 No green pepper or eggplant on either pizza.

 

602228014_ArtichokePestoPizzaAugust31st20183.thumb.jpg.ef9e0f2a3886d689a48ef4d7e1e96b4d.jpg

 

Another favourite of Matt's is an Artichoke and homemade pesto pizza.

 

  • Like 8
  • Delicious 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Ann_T's pizzas always slay me.  I'd also eat @Chris Hennes' Brussels sprouts pizza (though Mr. Kim would want a meat salad on the side 😉).  I truly prefer just sauce and cheese, but I live with the topping family.  If Mr. Kim and Jessica choose, there are so many toppings that you can hardly see the cheese.  They are kind and let me dictate one half of one pizza, but I usually get onions or some meat because I know they will be eating the majority of the leftovers.  I hope to one day get to New Haven to have one of those white pizzas with clams.  And I would eat a pineapple and ham combo on a white pizza, but no one seems to want that.  

 

And, nothing to do with toppings, but I always order pizza EXTRA well done.  I want some char.  People in Richmond VA seem to think char=burnt.  Sigh.

 

 

 

Edited by Kim Shook (log)
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, rotuts said:

@Ann_T 

 

Id love to try your version of Greek pizza w potatoes

 

I bet Id love it    .   anything w potatoes has to be worth a taste

 

[ed.:  usual standard rules always apply :  no GBP and no eggplant ]

@rotuts, the Greek pizza is simple.   You can roast or just fry potato cubes.  Toss with fresh minced garlic, dried oregano, salt, pepper and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.  

And scatter on top of the sauce and cheese.  I use my regular pizza sauce. 

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Homemade finocchiona"...glad to know you're still doing your home curing, Chris. That looks and sounds good.

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's some of the less conventional pizzas I made and liked in the past:

 

Tomato sauce, apples, blue cheese, thyme.

IMG_20191221_155927.jpg

 

Ricotta, smoked motz, eggplants, mushrooms.

IMG_20191221_153445.jpg

 

Spicy tomato sauce, feta, motz, tomatoes, olives, basil.

IMG_20191221_150858_1.jpg

 

Bechamel, artichoke, rosemary, pistachios, Parmesan.

IMG_20190531_212447_1.jpg

 

Moussaka flavored - eggplants, tomato sauce, bechamel, oregano, thyme, nutmeg, cumin.

IMG_20190601_202616.jpg

 

Ricotta, mozzarella, pesto, tomatoes.

IMG_20190601_204911.jpg

 

Sfincione with tomato sauce, caramelized onions, toasted breadcrumbs and Pecorino.

IMG_20190118_153138.jpg

 

 Roasted butternut squash, cream, mozzarella, sage and blue cheese.

IMG_20190316_151758.jpg

 

Ajvar (fire roasted peppers and eggplants sauce), feta, nigella.

IMG_20180714_143926.jpg

 

Ricotta, mozzarella, figs, aniseed.

IMG_20180714_145941.jpg

 

Tomato and coconut milk based Indian curry (with cinnamon, cumin, ginger, cardamom and some lemon grass), chickpeas, motz, cilantro.

20170603_141438.jpg

 

Thick style pizza with motz, caramelized onions, and blue cheese.

IMG_20171104_200443.jpg

 

Thick style pizza with mussels, spinach-basil-garlic pesto, motz.

IMG_20191013_154510_1.jpg

 

Also, not really a pizza, but a manoush bread with zaatar and olive oil.

20170311_143837.jpg

Edited by shain (log)
  • Like 11
  • Delicious 5

~ Shai N.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...