Pizza Toppings: Simple/Elaborate, Traditional/Unusual

[Kim Shook]

6 hours ago, shain said:

Ricotta, mozzarella, figs, aniseed.

 

 

 

 

Lots of lovely looking pizzas, but that fig one...  I think I fainted a little!  Wow!

[shain]

30 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

Lots of lovely looking pizzas, but that fig one...  I think I fainted a little!  Wow!

 

Thanks I love this one, I make it every fig season for a few years now.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, Kim Shook said:

Lots of lovely looking pizzas, but that fig one...  I think I fainted a little!  Wow!

 

Corona virus pizza.

 

[Chris Hennes]

Olives, pistachios, gorgonzola picante, on a sourdough crust with 5% local OK corn flour. Sauce is a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes, pureed lightly in the food processor, with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.

 

 

 

[Chris Hennes]

The last bit of finocchiona cut into strips, chunks of cheddar under the tomato sauce, and a bit of Parmigiano post-bake.

 

[Chris Hennes]

It's probably my imagination, but I feel like my rosemary was 3" taller this morning (it rained heavily overnight), so I made a very herb-heavy pie tonight. I made a pesto from rosemary, thyme, black pepper, and garlic, smeared that on a thin crust, topped with crushed tomatoes, then olives, and finally fresh mozzarella for the last 30 seconds of the bake. You've probably already gathered that I love olives... this pizza was excellent.

 

[Duvel]

@Chris Hennes: Your crust structure looks interesting - there is no distinct cornicione (in the sense of stronger inflated dough). I know this style from several places here in Germany and always thought of it as a more “even” cooking style to avoid char. Is that what you aim for ? Do you roll out your crust instead of stretching ? 

Edited April 13, 2020 by Duvel (log)

[Chris Hennes]

7 hours ago, Duvel said:

@Chris Hennes: Your crust structure looks interesting - there is no distinct cornicione (in the sense of stronger inflated dough). I know this style from several places here in Germany and always thought of it as a more “even” cooking style to avoid char. Is that what you aim for ? Do you roll out your crust instead of stretching ? 

 

I stretch the dough, not roll it, but in my experience there is a relatively narrow age window in which a sourdough crust will give that style of inflation. Plus, of course, you have to be making a thinner crust style, which I only do a fraction of the time. So it's not that I am aiming for one particular result or other, I am mostly just accepting the variety that comes with a naturally leavened dough prepared days in advance. Right now my idea of a "varied diet" is different styles of pizza each night!

[Chris Hennes]

This is based on something I saw in Reinhart's Perfect Pan Pizza. He prefers a chunky tomato sauce, and puts chunks of cheese both below the sauce and above it. This is the last of my previous batch of sourdough with the added corn flour. For the cheese I used Cabot Extra Sharp Cheddar.

 

[AlaMoi]

somewhere in the late 50's early 60's the concept of spam+pineapple hit the east coast.

pizza places had (to the effect) 'Hawaiian' style on the menus in the "greater Philadelphia area"

 

we do the 'traditional' stuff - but other than crust+tomato sauce+mozz cheese, the combos vary 'at will'

pepperoni

sausage - fresh, cured, summer, any eastern 'ring' type dried or fresh....

ham

anchovy

green/red/yellow pepper

roasted pepper

pimento

olives of every/any sort

broccoli bits

cauliflower slicettes

mushroom

onion

pickled pearl onion

baby corn ears

sprouts, of any kind

leek

scallion

shallot

and not infrequently the cheese gets mixed with other cheddars/havarti/feta/brie....

 

well, the anchovies only seldom....because I like anchovy chunks on crackers with a beer chaser....

 

in our house, pizza can be an adventure!

 

[blue_dolphin]

I'm sure there is a better thread for take-out pizza vs home cooked, but I guess I can share these toppings as something I might try....maybe...someday 🙃.

My cousin and his wife, who live in Queens, are currently in Rio and shared these photos of a delivery pizza they ordered.

Toppings on the Portuguesa pizza include  tomato (no sauce), ham, chouriço sausage, cheese, onion, hard boiled egg, green pepper, olives and oregano. 

The whole thing looks a bit pale to me. My cousin said the crust was lacking but did not complain.  

Considering the way it's packaged (and likely transported, see the last photo) a certain amount of steaming seems unavoidable. 

Apparently, ketchup and mustard are standard pizza condiments.  

 

[Smithy]

2 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

Apparently, ketchup and mustard are standard pizza condiments.

 

This is the part that made me go "huh"! 

[Duvel]

As part of my usual weekend exercise, a pizza baked with dotted fresh goat cheese, then topped with thinly sliced pink grilled lamb filet and sprinkled with fresh mint ...

 

 

[jedovaty]

Here's a wacky one that actually works: harzer kase (aka kvargla, it's a "hand" cheese), čabajska sausage (or any kind of seasoned ground pork, bacon might work, too), and a few caraway seeds, then after baking top with a little fresh marjoram and beer pickled onions.  Who knew harzer cheese could melt?!

 

On 1/21/2004 at 2:35 PM, Mr. Blister said:

My new crack is a thin crust pizza topped with veal sausage, dijon and brie.

Once strawberries start showing up, try: brie, strawberries, very thin slices of lemon, and some kind of "soft" deli meat such as mortadella.  Drizzle good balsamic on it when done.

[jedovaty]

@Chris Hennes How long does it take to get such an even and thorough olive distribution?!  That is amazing!

[Chris Hennes]

1 hour ago, jedovaty said:

@Chris Hennes How long does it take to get such an even and thorough olive distribution?!  That is amazing!

 

I never really thought about it. A couple of minutes, I guess? I don't scatter them from above, I place them individually.

[Chris Hennes]

No-knead crust, béchamel, mozzarella, ricotta, thyme. It's basically the recipe from Modernist Bread, though I didn't make a particularly Modernist béchamel, and I might have snuck some red pepper flakes under there. Really nice Neapolitan-style crust texture on this one (at least, compared to what I usually make!).

 

 

[Chris Hennes]

Same crust as yesterday, but a day older (so quite a bit more structure). I messed up the first pie and wound up with a calzone...

 

The second pizza turned out as intended: crushed tomatoes, rosemary, dried oregano, red pepper flakes, black pepper, and part-skim mozzarella.

[Chris Hennes]

I'm feeling kind of broken-record-ish here, but this is the last of the gorgonzola, so I guess I'll move on with my life soon. Brussels sprouts, walnuts and gorgonzola, on crushed tomatoes, Modernist Bread no-knead dough, retarded in the fridge an extra day because last nights dinner plans changed at the last minute.

 

[gfweb]

On 3/30/2020 at 3:38 PM, rotuts said:

@Katie Meadow

 

I think there are many 

 

just they don't yet want to admit it

Not me.

If a topping doesn't add grease it is heresy

Veg like what you might find in a normal salad are exempt.

Edited April 25, 2020 by gfweb (log)

[Chris Hennes]

No-knead crust (same dough as yesterday, so now three days old), crushed tomatoes, fresh rosemary, dried oregano, sliced garlic, chile flakes, olives, and chèvre. 

 

[Duvel]

“Greek” pizza: feta & quark cream, potatoes & olives, topped with thinly sliced veal fillet & fresh mint post bake.

 

 

[Chris Hennes]

Finocchiona Pizza: the sauce is fennel, black pepper, and red pepper, toasted, tossed with crushed walnuts, and then finished/deglazed with cream. The toppings are part-skim mozzarella, sautéed scallions, and sautéed fennel bulb. Maybe a little rich, to be honest...

 

[blue_dolphin]

A (not) classic tarte flambée

Starting with a recipe from Melissa Clark's Dinner in French, I used a mix of whole milk ricotta (homemade) and crème fraîche (organic heavy cream that was not so fraîche anymore and had thickened of its own volition), nutmeg and white pepper. 

Diced Broadbent's country ham,  thinly sliced red onion and asparagus.

 

Edited April 28, 2020 by blue_dolphin (log)

[BKEats]

On 4/12/2020 at 6:59 PM, Chris Hennes said:

It's probably my imagination, but I feel like my rosemary was 3" taller this morning (it rained heavily overnight), so I made a very herb-heavy pie tonight. I made a pesto from rosemary, thyme, black pepper, and garlic, smeared that on a thin crust, topped with crushed tomatoes, then olives, and finally fresh mozzarella for the last 30 seconds of the bake. You've probably already gathered that I love olives... this pizza was excellent.

 

 

I am a rosemary fan but, i use it so sparingly that it just has hints of it.. How strong is a rosemary pesto.. Is the rosemary the primary  green or is it rosemary added to parsley and basil..  Also, what are you cooking your pizzas in, they look really good