Pizza Toppings: Simple/Elaborate, Traditional/Unusual

blue_dolphin · March 28, 2020

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

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.

**Chris Hennes** · March 29, 2020

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:

Post-bake:

Slice:

weinoo · March 29, 2020

Blech.

**Chris Hennes** · March 29, 2020

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.

weinoo · March 29, 2020

You know me well.

Almost a waste of a 2-day old sourdough!

Katie Meadow · March 30, 2020

That makes ham and pineapple pizza look like traditional Italian.

rotuts · March 30, 2020

Id love a slice of Ham and Pineapple right now !

BeeZee · March 30, 2020

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.

Katie Meadow · March 30, 2020

5 hours ago, rotuts said:

Id love a slice of Ham and Pineapple right now !

That makes two of us. And probably only two of us.

rotuts · March 30, 2020

@Katie Meadow

I think there are many

just they don't yet want to admit it

chromedome · March 30, 2020

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

Katie Meadow · March 31, 2020

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.

chromedome · March 31, 2020

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.

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.)

kayb · March 31, 2020

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.

weinoo · March 31, 2020

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 🤣 !

**Chris Hennes** · April 1, 2020

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

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.

Ann_T · April 1, 2020

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.

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.

My son loves the Greek Pizza I make with potatoes.

rotuts · April 1, 2020

@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 ]

Ann_T · April 1, 2020

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.

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

Kim Shook · April 1, 2020

@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 April 1, 2020 by Kim Shook (log)

Ann_T · April 1, 2020

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.

**Chris Hennes** · April 1, 2020

Another relatively simple one tonight: same sauce as last night, but then a layer of homemade finocchiona, and hit with fresh mozzarella post-bake.

**Smithy** · April 1, 2020

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

**Chris Hennes** · April 2, 2020

I've never had potatoes on pizza, and the idea had never really occurred to me. But I thought I'd give @Ann_T's Greek pizza a try tonight. I went with a thick pan style because that's what I was in the mood for. Sourdough, of course.