Mushroom Pizza (Pizza ai Funghi)

Name: Mushroom Pizza (Pizza ai Funghi) with Porcini
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Cuisine: Italian cuisine
Ingredients: Pizza dough 400 g; Porcini mushrooms (fresh) 300 g; Olive oil 2 tbsp; Parmesan (grated) 2 tbsp (14 g); Mozzarella 100 g; Olives 8-10; Tomato sauce 3 tbsp; Hot red pepper optional; Oregano to taste

☆ 4.3

1 h 30 mins

The flavor of a pizza is defined by its topping, and mushroom pizza is no exception. Pizzas often have a complex composition, with lots of ingredients in the topping, and a flavor that is too rich and therefore not always distinctive. So if you are making a pizza with some “special” ingredient, do not drown its aroma in a crowd of other components. What does help is to highlight it by adding a little of something not very aromatic but sharp or spicy.

Against the background of most basic toppings, which have a neutral taste and smell (mozzarella, Parmesan, olives), most of the main ingredients have a pronounced and noticeable flavor. It is the flavor of the main ingredient that defines the taste of the finished pizza. For example, an eggplant pizza is hard to mistake for anything else, and seafood pizza has its own incomparable taste.

It is hardly worth combining eggplant and seafood, because the taste of fried eggplant will surely overpower the seafood rather than complement it. Mushrooms usually have a light aroma that is easy to catch, and it should not be drowned out.

But the flavor of fresh porcini picked just yesterday gives a pizza a very distinctive taste and aroma. Mushroom pizza needs no additions, special spices or techniques. You can easily bring out the flavor of porcini by adding a few small pieces of fried hot pepper. The pepper will not be spread evenly over the topping, so the porcini remain the main component that gives the pizza its flavor.

Mushroom pizza is not difficult to make, and all the ingredients are easy to find. Out of mushroom season, you can always use a homemade preparation of boiled and frozen mushrooms.

9 ingredientsTo the recipe

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Ingredients

pizza, 34 cm

Pizza dough 400 g
Porcini mushrooms (fresh) 300 g
Olive oil 2 tbsp
Parmesan (grated) 2 tbsp
(14 g)
Mozzarella 100 g
Olives 8-10
Tomato sauce 3 tbsp
Hot red pepper optional
Oregano to taste

Step-by-step recipe

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Make a yeast pizza dough by the usual recipe.
Once the dough has risen, roll it into a flat round 5-7 mm thick and place it on a pan lightly greased with olive oil. Be sure to prick the dough with a fork in several places. Cover it with a towel and let it rest so it rises a little.
Porcini pizza is best on a soft, fluffy dough. However, if you prefer a thin, crisp crust, you can add the topping right away.
Italian pizza often includes tomato paste, but it is better to make tomato sauce salsa di pomodoro. If you have no time to make the sauce, here is a quick version: peel 1-2 ripe tomatoes and remove the seeds, purée the pulp with a blender and simmer for 5-6 mins with 1 tbsp of olive oil, adding spices (salt, pepper, dried herbs) to taste. Spread the sauce over the dough on the baking pan.
Take the mozzarella out of its brine and cut it into thin slices. Lay large pieces of cheese over the sauce. Do not grate the cheese: pizza turns out best with coarsely cut ingredients. In the heat the mozzarella will melt and spread a little.
Fresh porcini for the pizza need to be boiled briefly. 15 mins in plain water, with no additions, is enough. Mushrooms that were frozen after boiling only need to be thawed and rinsed. Then slice the mushrooms thinly.
Arrange the sliced mushrooms over the sauce and mozzarella. Sprinkle the mushroom pizza with dried oregano, 1-2 pinches.
Add black olives to the mushroom pizza; they only complement the flavor and are never out of place. Cut pitted olives in half lengthwise and arrange them with the mushrooms. If the olives are small, use them whole.
Next, sprinkle the mushroom pizza with grated Parmesan or a similar cheese, for example Grana Padano. Put most of the cheese near the edge of the pizza and only a little in the center.
To add a little piquancy and heat to the mushroom pizza, strictly optional, arrange a hot pickled pepper cut into thin strips over the topping. If you only have fresh hot pepper, remove the seeds and the white inner membranes (they give the most heat) and fry the pepper in olive oil for 2-3 mins. Then cut it lengthwise into thin strips.
Drizzle the pizza with olive oil. Put it into an oven preheated to 200°C. The pizza bakes in about 20 mins in all, but check it after 15 mins, going by the dough and lifting its edge. If the underside is starting to turn golden, the pizza is done.
If you like, scatter whole leaves of young green basil over the finished mushroom pizza. But basil is very aromatic, and the wonderful mushroom smell will most likely disappear. So it is up to you.
Cut the mushroom pizza into 6-8 pieces with a special pizza wheel.
Mushroom pizza is a must as soon as the porcini season begins; it is already our tradition. Like any other pizza, it should only be eaten hot. I never understood people who reheat pizza the next day.