Mushroom and Goat Cheese Pizza

A very favorite treat when we are in Ybor City eating lunch at the Tampa Bay Brewing Company, is their out of this world Wild Mushroom and Goat Cheese Pizza.  I had to try to duplicate it last night and it was just about perfect.

I used the recipe for pizza crust from My Carolina Kitchen.  When I saw Sam throwing that pizza dough in the air, I knew I would make this recipe.  I loved it.  So easy to make in the food processor and it turned out perfect.

The only thing I did different than the original pizza, is that I did not have roasted garlic on hand and I just couldn't bring myself to heat the oven for just a head of garlic.  Instead, I slowly sauteed mushrooms and added thinly sliced garlic towards the end.  Onto this perfect crust I spread the mushrooms and garlic and then added finely chopped rosemary from the garden and topped it with goat cheese and mozzarella on top of  that.  It was wonderful, but yes, it does need that roasted garlic spread on the crust before the mushrooms.

We had a side salad of arugula with a lemon vinaigrette  and a bottle of Les Violettes Cotes de Rhone 2007, from Moillard, Meursault, France.  It was $10 or $12 and Wine Spectator rates it an 84.  It was perfect, just perfect.

Pizza on the Grill

For some time now, I am reading all I can on grilling pizza.  The technique is what makes grilling pizza successful.  I realize that most of you are now creeping into cold, rainy, snowy weather, but down here in Florida, we will be grilling all winter.  That's a good thing!!

So if you can't try this right now, file it away in your memory bank and I hope you will give it a try.  This is actually not a recipe at all, just explaining the technique on how this can be done successfully.

Roll or pat out your pizza dough onto an oiled sheet of parchment paper.  Let rest.  Start your gas/charcoal grill.  It does not need to be too hot.  Use a cooler spot on the grill.  Take the parchment paper and flip the dough onto the grill.  Quickly peel off the parchment paper and dispose.  Put the lid on the grill and let the dough bake for about 3 minutes.  It will be making large bubbles on the top of the dough as it cooks.   Peek underneath to see if you have good grill marks and before the crust starts to get too dark.

Now flip the dough off the grill with the grilled side up.  Arrange your toppings...sauce, herbs, browned sausage, pepperoni, etc., top with cheese and slide back on the grill with the uncooked side of the dough down.  It will take 3 to 5 minutes to finish the bottom crust.  I think you can see the grill  marks on the crust above.  It was getting too dark outside to take a better photo.

A quick way to make pizza and it was tasty.  The crust turned out to be quite crispy.  Obviously because of the short cooking time, the ingredients you put on top need to be precooked.

Thin crust pizza, Roma style

Before Baking



We have been to Italy several times, but I think the trip to Rome in 2003 (before we went to the digital camera), was one of the best.  We ate traditional Italian pizza quite a bit.  We loved the crisp, cracker-like crust with very few toppings, but very high on flavor. 

We rarely order pizza out in the US, but I do try to make it at home quite often.  Never have I been able to get that real Italian crust.....until today!!!

We stopped for lunch in Tampa on Friday at The Toasted Pheasant  which is a bistro that is as cute as its name.  We had the Niçoise Pizza.  It was a crispy, cracker crust and topped with goat cheese, fresh basil, marinated olives and anchovies.  We loved it.  I asked the waiter if the crisp crust was a secret.  He revealed that semolina was used.  A-ha!  Now I get it!!

So I started searching and found this recipe for a semolina pizza crust on "Hide the Cheese".  I followed the directions exactly and we had the crispy, crackling crust that we both love.  Topped it with a thin pizza sauce out of the freeze and some browned Italian sausage, a basil-Parmesan spread, chopped olives and goat cheese.  It was perfect!!! 

We have never been fans of the deep dish pizza crusts since visiting Italy.  It is just tastier and less filling to eat the crisp crusts.

This first time, I also did not use my stone in the oven.  I picked up this fantastic, slick, pizza pan at a local restaurant supply store this winter, and I really love it a lot.  I do plan to use the stone next time to see the difference it might make.