Pizza Toppings: Simple/Elaborate, Traditional/Unusual

[weinoo]

Here's what Artichoke Basille's eponymous (disgusting) pizza looks like...

 

 

I checked in on a few menus at some of the more well-known pizzerias in the US (Una, Bianco, Roberta's et al.)...nary a one with artichokes on their pies. Not even the famous one in California, with access to the best, rarest artichokes...Pizzeria Mozza.

 

In Italy, never saw artichokes on a pizza - they might say, why ruin two dishes? Well, Bonci might put artichokes on his pizza focaccia, but...

 

I'd make an artichoke cream. And make a white pie with it. Like Eataly's...

 

\

 

 

It can be used on so many things...

 

Quote

Olearia Fratelli Pinna was founded in 1997 by three brothers whose father had been in the olive oil business for more than 50 years. The Pinna brothers were raised with a deep respect for the regional traditions in Cagliari and continue to refer to them in their production today.

Their Sardinian artichoke cream contains DOP-protected artichokes grown in Ittiri that have been finely chopped and soaked in "Denocciolato di Bosana" extra virgin olive oil. 

The cream is ideal for antipasti, spread over bruschetta, or as an accompaniment to main dishes.

 

(except pizza, evidently)

[Chris Hennes]

That's really interesting about the lack of artichoke pizza on all those menus. I wonder why not? It just doesn't seem that outlandish to me to want to put artichokes on pizza. I mean, grilled artichokes are a thing, so it's not like there's a problem with high heat. And as you suggest, I'm making white pie, not a tomato sauce variety, so it's not a disagreement with tomatoes stopping it. Too much liquid?

[weinoo]

I think if you make a tight pureé, it ought to be fine? I mean, they put fresh tomato on some pies. and mushrooms, which can exude liquid if not handled properly (i.e. cooked first).

 

In Italy, I truly think the reason is they much prefer eating their carciofi, be it fried or braised, as a separate course.

[shain]

I think this is often the result of tradition. Like not pairing fish with cheese. After all, pizza is just bread with things on it (don't kill me - you understand what I mean :P) and artichoke in sandwiches is nothing new.

[Chris Hennes]

Well, now I can say that at least it is possible to make a delicious pizza with artichokes on it -- so whatever the reason it's not on menus, artichoke pizza can be excellent. I made two slightly different takes on it for dinner tonight. I started with the Serious Eats recipe for Carciofi alla romana. Then I crumbled/shredded the artichokes and the contents of the pot together (with a few samples to ensure quality, of course!). For one pizza I made a bechamel and just used the artichokes as a topping along with some feta, and for the other I made a sort of "artichoke cream" like @weinoo suggested and used that as the sauce. 

 

Here's the first:

 

And the second (I swear it's different, but it basically looked the same after baking):

 

They were both delicious, but I think I'd give a slight edge to the first: the bechamel is the Modernist variant, which has a really excellent texture as a pizza sauce.

[Katie Meadow]

I love artichoke pizza, but every restaurant artichoke pizza uses canned or marinated or whatever, never fresh. I get it--labor intensive! I've done it by lightly sauteeing cut pieces of fresh artichoke, then adding as a topping. I prefer it on a pizza with a tomato sauce, rather than a white pizza.

[blue_dolphin]

Fresh mozzarella, gorgonzola, black kale, sprinkle of Parm, drizzle of olive oil

 

From a recipe in the Bestia cookbook

[blue_dolphin]

'Nduja Pizza from Bestia

Toppings are fresh mozz, 'nduja, black kale, green onion, Parm and a drizzle of olive oil.  Had to leave out the fennel pollen. 

Edited April 29, 2021 by blue_dolphin
typo (log)

[Duvel]

The “After Asparagus” ...

 

Sauce hollandaise, potatoes, parsley butter, cooked & raw ham.

 

[blue_dolphin]

Two more from Bestia, one simple/traditional and the other a little more unusual. 

Margarita:

 

Burrata, Castelvetrano olives, pickled Fresno chiles, plus the same sauce, grated cheese and olive oil drizzle as in the Margarita:

Nothing wrong with the Margarita but this one was the winner with the salty/tangy olives and spicy chiles balancing the creamy cheese. 

[blue_dolphin]

Salsa Verde Pizza, another recipe from Bestia. 

The pie gets baked with sauce, fresh mozz, a sprinkle of grated Parm and a drizzle of olive oil.  Anchovies (the book has a recipe for smoked, dried anchovies but allows the use of oil-packed filets) and salsa verde are added after it comes out of the oven. 

The salsa verde from the book includes capers, anchovy, preserved lemon and pickled shallots among other things and works well with the anchovies. 

[jkarpf]

I owe Spam an apology.

 

Our first dinner in Rome, at a restaurant that turned out to be not only bad but infamously bad (now "10,207 of 10,235 Restaurants in Rome" per TripAdvisor), featured what I remembered as Spam pizza. It was terrible, but now I'm reminded that it wasn't Spam.

 

Not my photo -- we went in 2011, someone else took this in 2015, and they're still serving it.

[heidih]

1 hour ago, jkarpf said:

I owe Spam an apology.

 

Our first dinner in Rome, at a restaurant that turned out to be not only bad but infamously bad (now "10,207 of 10,235 Restaurants in Rome" per TripAdvisor), featured what I remembered as Spam pizza. It was terrible, but now I'm reminded that it wasn't Spam.

 

Not my photo -- we went in 2011, someone else took this in 2015, and they're still serving it.

No worse than pineapple and ham   Which I have never ingested

[Margaret Pilgrim]

1 hour ago, jkarpf said:

I owe Spam an apology.

 

Our first dinner in Rome, at a restaurant that turned out to be not only bad but infamously bad (now "10,207 of 10,235 Restaurants in Rome" per TripAdvisor), featured what I remembered as Spam pizza. It was terrible, but now I'm reminded that it wasn't Spam.

 

Not my photo -- we went in 2011, someone else took this in 2015, and they're still serving it.

You're not even in the running.    VERY early on in our marriage, I made a liverwurst pizza.   Not just a bad flavor concept but the liverwurst turned to sawdust.   It has become a touchstone of bad cooking for us.    As in, "well, it's not liverwurst pizza..."    

 

[FeChef]

41 minutes ago, heidih said:

No worse than pineapple and ham   Which I have never ingested

You bring up a good point. Why is a Hawiian pizza pineaaple and ham? It should be Pineapple and spam. That said, i have ingested Hawiian pizza, its not bad. But 10/10 times i will choose supreme over hawiian.

[Toliver]

22 minutes ago, FeChef said:

You bring up a good point. Why is a Hawiian pizza pineaaple and ham? It should be Pineapple and spam. That said, i have ingested Hawiian pizza, its not bad. But 10/10 times i will choose supreme over hawiian.

You're right. I think the attraction of Pineapple & Ham is the sweet & salty thing.

[FeChef]

1 minute ago, Toliver said:

You're right. I think the attraction of Pineapple & Ham is the sweet & salty thing.

Im thinking more salty sweet and sour thing.

[heidih]

Canned pineapple does not enter the sour zone to me

[FeChef]

49 minutes ago, heidih said:

Canned pineapple does not enter the sour zone to me

I dont use canned pineapple for pizza. Canned has way too much sugar added.

[weinoo]

On 5/11/2021 at 10:44 AM, blue_dolphin said:

Salsa Verde Pizza, another recipe from Bestia. 

 

 

Interestingly reminds me of this pie we had in Rome...no cheese, and a thinner crust, but still.

 

Edited May 13, 2021 by weinoo (log)

[TdeV]

When putting thinly sliced potatoes on a pizza, does one bake them a bit first or not?

If so, what is the correct potato, its treatment, heat of the oven, etc?

Edited August 5, 2021 by TdeV
Spelling (log)

[Duvel]

I use (salt water) boiled potatoes from the previous day, thinly sliced just before topping the pizza with it, occasionally brushing with oil (depending how much effort I want to put in)

[blue_dolphin]

1 hour ago, TdeV said:

When puttingn thinly sliced potatoes on a pizza, does one bake them a bit first or not?

If so, what is the correct potato, its treatment, heat of the oven, etc?

I do not bake the potatoes first, just slice thinly to a thickness that allows them to cook to your liking at the time/temps you use for your crust. 
Here's one I was happy with:

The first time I made that topping, I cut the potatoes @ 1.5 mm and they were like too brown potato chips so needed to cut them a bit thicker. Try a few slice thickness on a test pizza 

[TdeV]

It was delicious! Photo below was of leftovers today which still had some hints of last night's tastiness. This was my usual dough at 60% hydration and 14% semolina. A substantial smear of my best batch of recent pesto (lots of garlic [some fresh this year], basil, Parmesan-Reggiano, Grana Padano, pecans). Sprinkled aged Gouda, then ~3mm slices of Yukon Gold potato, then Fontina.

 

[chromedome]

I was at my local supermarket tonight (Sobeys) and they had a veggie pizza with - of all things - dollops of hummus as one of the toppings. It was marked down substantially, so we bought it out of curiosity (and because if we didn't like it, it would be cheap to discard). Turns out hummus works surprisingly well on a pizza, and the low-carb cauliflower-based crust was surprisingly...ordinary. You know, like any other supermarket pizza crust.

 

Overall, it was unexpectedly acceptable.