Pizza Toppings: Simple/Elaborate, Traditional/Unusual

[ChefJohnny]

My 2 all time favs :

(Both with super thin crispy crust)

1: Sparse amount of fresh tomato sauce, fontina cheese, sopresetta, fried egg, arugula tossed with a little olive oil and sherry vinegar

2: Garlic sauce(kinda like a garlic-y bechamel), goat cheese, wild mushrooms, fresh thyme, black pepper

-Chef Johnny

[srhcb]

Call me old fashioned, (okay, just call me "old"), but I just don't think anything can top (pun intended) a good pepperoni and/or good Italian sausage pizza.

Okay, maybe for something new try using Haloumi Cheese?

SB (traditional)(ie: "old")

[toweringpine]

spinach, red onion, olives and breaded chicken bits on a half dozen sheets of phyllo with garlic butter and parm between the layers.

[prasantrin]

My favourites:

spinach and bacon

gorgonzola and potato

Italian ham and a runny egg

pepperoni and pineapple (OK, that has pepperoni, but the pineapple makes it different!)

Not really a topping, but I also like using pesto instead of tomato sauce.

[Carolyn Tillie]

My stand-by favorite:

Roasted Garlic

Mushrooms

Sundried Tomatoes

Spinach

Basil

Feta Cheese

Parmesan

Artichoke Hearts

More Mushrooms

[qrn]

Olive oil, fresh diced basil, thin sliced fresh san marzano tomatos.

Cheese is whole milk mozz, provolne and pecorino romano. Be sure you salt before and after the cheeese. Cook on a 1/4" steel plate on the bottom shelf, after you reset the t stat on the oven so it goes to 585º.

Bud

[sp1187]

spinach, feta, sliced red onion, and banana peppers.

[Dejah]

Hubby had Peking Duck pizza in Tarzana, Calif. It was several years ago so he can't remember the sauce - whether it was tomato or plum base. I have made pizza with Chinese sausage (lap cheong) with just a light smear of tomato sauce.

[LaurieA-B]

Our current family favorite is Bacon-Jalapeno Pizza.

[madtowner]

There's a restaurant near me with a wood fired oven that does Braeburn apple, brie and caramelized onion pizza.

I've also done a smoked salmon, red onion, roasted red pepper and spinach with a Marsala white sauce that turned out pretty good.

I like the egg idea several people have brought up, I'll have to try it next time...tim

[Clover]

I always use the pizza from the Cheeseboard in Berkeley for inspiration. It's not really tradition and pretty California in style, but so so good. They don't use tomato sauce as a base, but rather garlic olive oil, thinly sliced onions and s/p. In one of my favourites they top that with mozzarella, french feta, tomato, and lemon ( I usually use some zest and juice at the end). After it comes out of the oven, you brush the garlic olive oil on the crust and sprinkle with herbs.

They post their pizzas every day here:

http://cheeseboardcollective.coop/Pizza%20Collective/z.htm

Another favourite is tomato sauce and fresh ricotta. Add arugula to the warm pizza and drizzle with olive oil.

[Shel_B]

I need some suggestions of new toppings to put on a pizza. I am so tired of the norm- pepperoni, sausage, hamburger, etc.

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http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_cc/ep...7_46386,00.html

Shel

[Octaveman]

I've always been partial to four cheese pizza. Try experimenting with difference cheeses. I've also been a sucker for luiguica.

[djyee100]

Grilled Asparagus & Prosciutto: Brush the pizza dough with garlic olive oil, then top with grilled asparagus and a mixture of fontina and mozzarella cheeses. Bake. When the pizza comes out of the oven, lay slices of prosciutto on top. Serve.

Bacon, Onions & Cream Cheese: Cook the bacon and onions together only until softened. Spread on top of pizza dough with dollops of cream cheese. Sprinkle generously with ground black pepper. Bake.

A savory dessert pizza, Pears Walnuts & Gorgonzola. Top pizza dough with thin pear slices and walnuts. Bake until almost done. Then crumble on gorgonzola cheese. Bake another 5 mins.

Edited July 15, 2007 by djyee100 (log)

[mizducky]

Many moons ago there was a local Boston-area chain called Bel Canto that did deep-dish-ish pizzas -- actually, they called them tortas -- with great non-traditional toppings. The broccoli and walnut one was sooooo good.

Very thinly-sliced potato seasoned with a really flavorful extra-virgin olive oil is also awesome.

[Baggy]

Our favourite winter topping is with sausage, but for a lighter, fresher pizza we go for:

Base of minced tomato with oregano (concentrated down until a stiff paste)

A few finely chopped scallions

Fresh mushrooms (sliced and pre-fried to reduce the water & intensify flavour)

Shrimp (pre-fried)

Thin asparagus spears (blanched)

Topping of mozzarella and Emmental

Flours are mild and subtle, there’s no added salt and little fat.

We avoided ham as it adds the copious amounts of salt already in the cheese, but I guess that a few slivers of finely cut pancetta would add extra pep. We tried substituting artichoke hearts for the asparagus, but, the flavour isn’t strong enough against the cheese.

[Norm357]

In my very humble opinion, pizza should always be a cracker thin crust, with just tomato sauce, basil, and cheese.

Growing up in the South, I was led to believe that pizza should have all kinds of crap piled up on it and a thick, bread like crust.

Then when I was 16, I went to NYC.

My eyes were opened to what pizza should be.

Never again will I eat mile high crap pizza.

[Toliver]

I thought I would bump this back up after seeing there are some new gourmet pepper flakes in the market:

DaViola Pizza Pepper Flakes

I haven't spied them in the grocery store, yet. Has anyone tried them?

My brother does this, to an extent. He grows a variety of hot peppers, dries them and then grinds them into his own concoction of pepper flakes that have quite a kick to them. He gave me a batch of flakes in a shaker jar which I end up adding to just about everything I cook. They're great on pizza.

[Katie Meadow]

Radicchio. Cut roughly, saute a few minutes, add a little salt and pepper and minced garlic, saute another minute, remove. Top the pizza. My absolute favorite.

Fresh artichoke hearts, saute first as well.

Sweet onions, sliced very thin and carmelized slowly before topping.

Swiss Chard. Saute first with garlic.

Mixed peppers of all colors, done same way.

Okay, now you can all start to laugh: chunks of fresh pineapple. Hawaiian Pizza minus the ham. We started doing this when our daughter was young and anti-green stuff. I'm not a veg but for some reason I prefer meatless pizza. Husband and daughter sometimes got some Canadian bacon or some such thing on their half, and they were happy, but I think that the pineapple can stand on its own. I admit I have never had the nerve to serve it to grown-up guests, but once in a while it's very fun! If you haven't had Hawaiian Pizza for a zillion years this will definitely send you into a reverie. Well, only if you liked it as a kid.

If your guests eat seafood but not meat, clam or mussel pizza is yummy.

We now prebake our crust on the stone for a few minutes, then remove and top w/tomato sauce, mozz and veggies and put back in the oven for another few minutes. After recent experiments with pre-baking I'm convinced it's a great thing if you like a crispy thin-crust pizza and don't have an oven that gets hotter than 500 degrees. If using tomato sauce this method helps prevent any sogginess and also keeps the toppings from over-cooking.

[decolady]

I haven't made this, but have eaten it at a friend's house. She chops up broccoli and cauliflower very small and uses those, along with red bell pepper, caramelised onion, mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce. Very tasty.

[petite tête de chou]

I thought I would bump this back up after seeing there are some new gourmet pepper flakes in the market:

DaViola Pizza Pepper Flakes

I haven't spied them in the grocery store, yet. Has anyone tried them?

My brother does this, to an extent. He grows a variety of hot peppers, dries them and then grinds them into his own concoction of pepper flakes that have quite a kick to them. He gave me a batch of flakes in a shaker jar which I end up adding to just about everything I cook. They're great on pizza.

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I haven"t tried the DaViola flakes but I do something similar to what your brother does. I buy dried chilis in bulk and keep all of the seeds in a plastic shaker. The Ancho and Pasilla chilis are particularly tasty are on a grilled chicken pizza.

[eskay]

I don't make pizza as often as I'd like, but one of my favourite toppings is fresh tomato. Boring I know, but that's me

[petite tête de chou]

I don't make pizza as often as I'd like, but one of my favourite toppings is fresh tomato.  Boring I know, but that's me 

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Absolutely *not* boring. Since pizza is my husbands very favorite food I've been cranking out at least 4-8 large pizzas a month for about four years and let me tell ya, even if those tomato are of the January-pink ilk..the mere juiciness and bit of acid with a pinch of salt are welcome and wonderful.

[beccaboo]

I made pizza last night with, as its base 'sauce,' sautéed onion, garlic, walnuts, Aleppo pepper flakes, oregano, and pomegranate molasses. Over that I scattered pomegranate arils, chopped mint and coriander, and blobs of some sort of semi-hard dutch goat cheese. It was really tasty, and not as peculiar as it sounds.

[JimH]

[Host Note: This post and the two following it were split from the pepperoni topic]

People put prosciutto on pizza, which is about the same cost per pound as a good soppressata.

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What a waste, to each their own.

Edited July 18, 2009 by heidih (log)