Pizza Toppings: Simple/Elaborate, Traditional/Unusual

[Kim WB]

[i'm anti-mushroom and anti-anchovy though, so I'm missing a couple of possibilities.

I might add, however, that he is indeed a fine,upstanding citizen, despite his extreme pizza topping views. I implore you all to accept this one slight flaw in our beloved jhlurie.

[jhlurie]

I was hit on the head as a small child by a shopping cart filled with mushrooms and anchovies.

(in recent years I've actually learned to appreciate truffles though, so I guess I'm cheating a bit on the shrooms)

[torakris]

It is nice to know I am not the only one who appreciates pineapple on pizza!

[Belmont3]

I will make some dough then top with EVOO, Greek Olives, Fresh Basil, sliced Roma tomatos, Chevre, cracked Black Pepper and Sea Salt, then grill it.

[Jinmyo]

It is nice to know I am not the only one who appreciates pineapple on pizza!

Gah.

[hollywood]

It is nice to know I am not the only one who appreciates pineapple on pizza!

That's why they call you, Pineapple Princess.

[tommy]

It is nice to know I am not the only one who appreciates pineapple on pizza!

some toppings taste much better when you're stoned. i give you that.

[Ron Johnson]

Potato, pancetta and raclette, no red sauce

Volpi pepperoni and pancetta, red sauce

Morels and dots of maytag blue, no red sauce

[rcarter]

With tomato based sauce I prefer cheese or one topping (mushroom or pepperoni - Hawaiian is the exception to my one topping preference)

Without the sauce I like more of a variety:

Proscuitto, peaches, goat cheese and basil.

Caramelized onion, panchetta and gruyere.

Roast chicken, bean sprouts, green onion and fontina w/ hoisin/sambal sauce.

Apples with brie.

Pears with caramelized onions and gorgonzola.

[Carlovski]

Pineapple, sweetcorn, chicken tikka massala....

All on a nice doughy deep pan stuffed crust of course.

Oh and some BBQ sauce to dip into.

Just thought I'd stir up some trouble!

[slkinsey]

Having spent much time in Italy, I am very much an Italian traditionalist when it comes to pizza. This is to say that I like my pizza paper thin, slightly charred on the bottom, and with the toppings very much limited in number and amount. I've got a massive slab of soapstone on the bottom of my oven (something I picked up for baking sourdough) and from time to time we'll invite over a crowd and turn out a couple dozen pizze in various configurations.

House favorites are:

tomato/mozarella and fresh porcini mushrooms drizzled with raw olio di Cartocetto (famous olive oil from Le Marche, where I first had this pizza) out of the oven -- almost as good using crimini mushrooms with some rehydrated porcini and your favorite high-class olive oil

stracchino, ruccola and bresaola

tomato/mozarella with dressed salad greens and prosciutto

tomato/mozarella with oil-cured tuna and onions

tomato, chili flakes and raw shrimp (they cook right on the crust in the oven)

tomato/mozarella with good anchovies, capers and chili flakes -- would love to try this with raw fresh anchovy fillets cooked on the crust

tomato/mozarella with pancetta and raw eggs (they cook into "fried eggs" on the crust)

it's always fun to make a "quattro stagioni" pizza with whatever is around that represents the four seasons to you (say, prosciutto, asparagus, mushrooms and basil)

of course quattro formaggi is great

I hear of Otto selling a lardo pizza (no sauce/cheese, just crust, salt and thin pieces of prosciutto fat draped on the warm crust) that sounds like something I will be making soon...

Besides that, I can always find something interesting and unusual at the Green Market that works on a pizza -- have made ramp pizza and even a chive blossom pizza that was very well recieved. When I do go with more familiar American toppings, I like to at least jazz it up a little by doing things like using sauteed baby artichokes instead of canned, or using spicy sopressata instead of pepperoni. Any salumi is, in my opinion, better if you put it on the pizza right after taking it out of the oven rather than cooking it on the pizza.

Anyway, IMO, the real secret is to go very conservatively on the toppings, otherwise it ends up soggy and very much like mediocre American-style pizza. My thought is, why make it at home unless you can do something better, or at least significantly different from what you get at your local Original Really We're Not Kidding This Is The One And Only Famous Ray's or Pizzeria Dodici's Chicago Style Baked Cheese and Meat Pie/Torte Thing.

[elyse]

Welcome slkinsey. And don't be afraid, dive right in! Nice first post.

Can I ask you where you got your soapstone and how thick it is?

[slkinsey]

Can I ask you where you got your soapstone and how thick it is?

It's been a while, so I don't remember exactly where I got it. Couldn't have been too far from NYC though. I can check back through the archives of rec.food.sourdough (which I used to frequent in my militant sourdough days) and see where I got the idea, though. Maybe that will ring some bells.

Anyway... it is around the size of my oven's bottom with a one inch space all the way around. It's probably 2 inches thick -- maybe a little more, maybe a little less -- and quite heavy. Packs quite a thermal mass, as you may well imagine. Boules explode up from it's surface, and it cooks pizza in less than 5 minutes.

[elyse]

Was it from a tile place or a cooking place?

[WHT]

Pepperoni mushrooms and black olives. In any combination including Bacon cheeseburger pizza.

[slkinsey]

Was it from a tile place or a cooking place?

Oh, neither one. I should have been more clear...

Go to a place that sells construction stone -- like a brickyard or something like that. You tell them the dimensions you want and they sell you that exact piece of stone.

Just for full disclosure, keep in mind that such a piece of stone will weigh upwards of 100 pounds.

[elyse]

Go to a place that sells construction stone -- like a brickyard or something like that.  You tell them the dimensions you want and they sell you that exact piece of stone.

That's what I meant. Thanks!

[jjpuss]

To add to the pickle discussion: One nice combo we have frequently when ordering out is ricotta, pickled cherry peppers, and caramelized onions, with red sauce, no mozzarella. The dollops of ricotta offset the sour/hot pungency of pickled peppers, and sweet cooked onions are a nice complement, although sometimes we order roasted fennel bulb instead, which also provides sweetness.

At home, I've mentioned before that my husband makes an amazing caramelized onion and broccoli rabe pizza with red fresno peppers and no red sauce. Sometimes uses cheese; sometimes not. He sautes the rabe with sliced garlic and the peppers, and then it gets slightly caramelized as the pizza cooks.

Only problem is now that every time I buy broccoli rabe my husband feels obligated to make pizza.

Okay, not my problem.

[elyse]

To add to the pickle discussion: One nice combo we have frequently when ordering out is ricotta, pickled cherry peppers, and caramelized onions, with red sauce, no mozzarella. The dollops of ricotta offset the sour/hot pungency of pickled peppers, and sweet cooked onions are a nice complement

You just gave me under the tongue prickles! Yum.

[Monica Bhide]

I am making pizza for dinner tonite and could use some vegetarian topping suggestions.. we usually do the same old stuff -- tomato, onion, cheese, green chilie... any suggestions??

[MatthewB]

Arugula.

[redwinegulper]

roasted peppers, mushrooms, grilled squash

roast cherry tomatoes

try different cheeses....goat, aged fontina, asiago

try diiferent herbs....i like thyme with alot of the above

[wawairis]

Artichoke hearts, grilled eggplant

[Kobicook]

How about roasted eggplant or pablanos; spiced paneer; and spinach. They would be my first choices. But you can certainly go even more way out with toppings like garbanzo beans, potatoes and roasted corn (think bhutta).

[Dave the Cook]

wilted spinach, mushrooms, gruyere

roasted tomato, artichoke hearts, feta and pecorino romano

or

tomato, mozzarella and eggs, a la slkinsey