My experimenting in the kitchen continues. This time with pizza.
One was a conventional Hawaiian style pizza, with slices of canned pineapples and ham.
The other was salami and mushrooms, with the mushrooms were a mix of king oyster (or is it called king trumpet? Either way, they can be found at Asian supermarkets and are great in hotpots and other soupy things and also in vegetable stirfries. I might try them with spaghetti next time), shiitake and brown.
The third was thinly chopped cauliflower (there were some lovely specimens at the weekend farmers market) with crispy bacon. I wasn’t quite sure how cauliflower would work on a pizza but it turned out well. The trick I think is to cook the cauliflower a little first, to get some of the moisture out, i.e. no soggy pizzas. So after crisping the chopped bacon in the frying pan, I caramelised some thinly sliced shallots in the unhealthily delicious bacon oil and then tossed in the cauliflower with a bit of salt and pepper and cooked it for a few minutes. So onto the pizza dough went the sauce, then the cauliflower and bacon and a mix of cheddar and mozzarella. Bake in your oven’s hottest temp for about 10-12 minutes or so (depending on the temperature – and I reckon, depending on how thinly you roll out your dough? I could be wrong but I like a very thin-crust pizza and a crisp bottom). And just after you remove the pizza from the oven, scatter on top a handful of finely chopped spring onions.
Once again I used Smitten Kitchen’s last-minute pizza dough recipe, using 1/3 whole meal flour and 2/3 bread flour (or you could just use all-purpose flour). And her pizza sauce recipe too, essentially blending up a can of tomatoes with some minced garlic, a splash of red wine vinegar and sugar, Italian herbs, salt and pepper. Both recipes are in the cookbook (and maybe online too?).
So with this successful cauliflower pizza first, I’m constantly wondering what else would taste good on pizzas! Broccoli? I love oven roasted broccoli and I can imagine that it would be similar-ish to the cauliflower pizza. Brussels sprouts? We are recent converts to Brussels sprouts here and can’t seem to get enough of it. I think thinly slicing them might work. Smitten Kitchen also has a thinly sliced asparagus pizza which sounds amazing.
In Singapore, I’ve even had a desert ‘pizza’, which was spread with nutella and had fruits as toppings. No cheese that is! And there are even Japanese-style pizzerias too. Unagi pizza anyone?
What toppings do you like on your pizzas? What kinds of unusual pizzas have you had?
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We have a pizza place that put Indian food on pizza crusts. It’s pretty good. I like the paneer pizza. I’ve also seen a salad on a pizza too.
Hawaiian is my favorite. Looks delicious.
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Paneer pizza! That sounds interesting! There is an Indian pizza place nearby but we’ve never tried it!
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I love roasted cauliflower, nicely browned and crispy on the edges. I’ve never tried it on pizza, but I’m sure it would be good, maybe with some mild pickled banana peppers.
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Mmmm thinking about roasted cauliflower makes me want to go get one and have that for a snack!
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Mmmm. I especially like the bacon oil idea. And you are right to be cautious about the soggy pizza! That has happened a few times with my experiments – spinach can be a problem. I think it’s a great idea to equate pizza topping ideas with roasted vegetables.
They look great.
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Kabocha squash works great on a pizza too!
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I usually make my pizza with whatever I have on hand: greens work well (spinach, kale, chard), summer squash, chicken, sausage, peppers (hot and sweet). Your experiments sound so yummy and successful.
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Mmmm kale pizza! I’ve never in my life cooked chard (it’s not a very Asian vegetable I think), so I’m curious. I imagine that kale and goat cheese would be good. Or kale and prosciutto!
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Mmmm… bacon on pizza is always the right call. *grin* I’ll have to look for the Smitten Kitchen cookbook the next time I’m at a bookshop – her recipes always seem to get lots of love for Weekend Cooking!
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I guess Smitten Kitchen always seems to have such accessible recipes. Like with this pizza recipe! I always thought a pizza at home required a pizza stone, and cooking the sauce and it just seemed like so much work. But nope, I just do everything on my cookie sheets and simply blend a can of diced tomatoes (with other stuff of course)! And it’s fun too!
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I love to make homemade pizza but have never experimented very far from artichoke, spinach, and a variety of cheeses. You’ve given me some new ideas though. My sister-in-law has the Smitten Kitchen cookbook-I’ll have to borrow it and take a look.
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I’ve never had spinach on pizza actually. I will have to try that some day! While I don’t mind artichoke, the husband isn’t a fan!
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My husband’s recently been making his own crust (which takes about 18 hours to rise) and so far my favorite topping is green and black olives and artichokes. I’m pretty sure I have a little trouble with gluten but it’s worth a bit of pain.
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Hmmm I’ve been wondering if those overnight rise pizza doughs would be better than this quick one. I’ll have to try it out one day.
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