
This
Wild Mushroom and Black Olive Tapenade Pizza is simple and delicious. It is so simple that I’m going to talk you through it rather than writing a specific recipe. I encourage you to personalize it as you wish. It will be good the first time and you will feel empowered to tailor it to your specific tastes the next time. Power to the pizza chef!
You will need:
A ball of frozen pizza dough
Cornmeal or polenta for the peel so the dough will slide off onto the pan or stone
Wild Mushroom Mix or Button and Crimini Mushrooms
Shallot, thinly sliced
Garlic, thinly sliced
Herbs such as Thyme, Oregano, Basil, Savory or Rosemary, minced
McEvoy Ranch Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Fresh Mozzarella (Other cheeses that melt well would work here. Fontina or Teleme would be good. I have even used blue cheese with this pizza.)
McEvoy Ranch Black Olive Tapenade
Grated Parmesan or other dry grating cheese (Some options here would be Vella Dry Jack, Asiago, Grana Padano, etc.)
Micro-greens (Baby Arugula is a good substitute if micro-greens are not available.)
Take that frozen pizza dough you picked up at your local market and let it defrost overnight in the refrigerator. If you have a pizza stone, place in your oven and preheat to 500 F. If you do not have a stone, place a heavy pan in the oven while preheating.
Slice or tear apart the mushrooms. If you are not a forager Mycopia has great mixed boxes that contains a variety of mushrooms including Alba Clamshell, Brown Clamshell, Trumpet Royale and Velvet Pioppini. Maitake Frondosa are usually not included in the mix but I buy them separately and add them for their wonderful aroma and flavor.
You can certainly use regular button mushrooms or Crimini mushrooms as well. Both buttons and Crimini will need to be sliced. Toss the mushrooms with salt and pepper, shallots, garlic and herbs and McEvoy Ranch Extra Virgin Olive Oil. You can roast them in a 350 F oven for approximately 10 minutes or saute until the mushrooms are browned slightly.
Roll out or stretch your dough into a round - or whatever shape you like. Place on a peel that you have sprinkled with cornmeal or polenta.
Brush the surface of the dough generously with olive oil. Slice the fresh mozzarella (or cheese of your choice) and cover approximately ⅔ of the surface of the dough with the cheese. Scatter the mushrooms and the black olives around the dough. Top with grated Parmesan or other grated hard cheese.
Slide the dough from the peel onto the stone or the pan and bake for approximately 10 to 12 minutes.
Slide the pizza onto a cutting board. Dress the micro-greens lightly with olive oil and scatter on top of the pizza. Slice and Serve.
*It never hurts to drizzle a little more olive oil on top of the pizza. The pizza will warm the oil creating wonderful aroma and flavor. All of the McEvoy Olive Oils would be delicious here - Jalapeño, Lemon, Olio Nuovo or Extra Virgin - go for it!