Mushroom Pizza
For this pizza parlor favorite, you can use sliced cremini or white button mushrooms—or make it with all sorts of exotic and wild mushrooms. In the end, they all must be sliced thinly so they cook evenly and quickly. The only other trick? Make sure you sauté them long enough so they give off their liquid in the skillet and it evaporates almost completely—to keep the crust from getting soggy over the heat.
- All- purpose flour for the pizza peel or olive oil for the pizza tray or a large baking sheet
- One recipe homemade dough, preferably the Parmesan Pizza Dough ; or 1 pound purchased fresh dough or frozen dough, thawed; or one 12- to 14- inch store- bought, prebaked plain pizza crust
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 4 cups cleaned, thinly sliced mushrooms, preferably cremini or white button, or some exotic varietals mixed in with them (see Note)
- 1⁄2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 6 tablespoons Classic Pizza Sauce , or No- Cook Pizza Sauce , or jarred plain pizza sauce 6 ounces mozzarella, shredded
- 1 ounce Parmigiano- Reggiano, finely grated
Instructions:
- BAKING OPTIONS
- With a pizza stone. Preheat the stone in the oven at 450°F for 30 to 45 minutes; or preheat the stone on a gas grill at medium, indirect heat (about 450°F) for 30 to 45 minutes; or build an indirect, medium- heat coal bed in a charcoal grill and preheat the stone for the same amount of time.
- With a pizza tray or a large baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 450°F, a gas grill to indirect, medium heat (about 450°F), or build an indirect, medium- heat coal bed around the perimeter of a charcoal grill.
- CRUST OPTIONS
- Fresh dough on a pizza stone. Dust a pizza peel with fl our, set the dough at its center, and form the dough into a large, fl at circle by dimpling it with your fi ngertips. Pick it up by its edge and rotate it, stretching gently, until it’s about 14 inches in diameter. Set it fl oured side down on the peel.
- Fresh dough on a pizza tray or a large baking sheet. Grease the tray or baking sheet with olive oil. Lay the dough at the center and dimple the dough with your fingertips—then pull and press it until it forms a 14- inch circle on the tray or an irregular rectangle, about 12 × 7 inches, on the baking sheet.
- A prebaked crust. Place it on a fl oured pizza peel if you’re also using a pizza stone—or place the prebaked crust right on a pizza tray or a large baking sheet.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet set over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring often.
- Add the mushrooms and red pepper fl akes. Cook, stirring often, until the mushrooms give off their liquid. Pour in the Worcestershire sauce; continue cooking, stirring frequently, until any liquid in the pan has been reduced to a glaze, about 5 minutes. Cool at room temperature for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, spread the pizza sauce evenly over the crust, leaving a 1 ⁄2- inch border around the edge. Evenly cover the sauce with the shredded mozzarella.
- Spoon and spread the mushroom mixture evenly over the cheese, then top with the grated Parmigiano- Reggiano.
- Slide the pizza from the peel to the preheated stone; if you’re using a pizza tray or a baking sheet, place it in the oven or over the unheated section of the grill grate. Bake or grill with the lid closed until the cheese begins to bubble and the crust has fi rmed up at its edge, 16 to 18 minutes. If you’re using fresh pizza dough, check on it a few times during the fi rst 10 minutes so you can pop any air bubbles that may dot its surface or edge. Once the pie is done, slip the peel back under the crust to remove it from the hot stone or use oven mitts to set the tray or baking sheet with its pie on a wire cooling rack. Wait 5 minutes before slicing. If you want to make sure the crust stays crisp, take the pie off the peel, tray, or sheet after a minute or two and let it cool directly on the wire rack.
- NOTE: You’ll need 12 to 14 ounces of mushrooms to get 4 cups sliced. Avoid portobello caps because they are too big. And use only the caps of shiitake mushrooms, not their fi brous stems. In any case, clean whole mushrooms with damp paper towels.