Pizza toppings

MsGinge very kindly bought an ooni for my birthday the other week, resigning me to many more grueling weekends making pizza this year. Obviously I’m devastated.

Anyway, for a while now I’ve been looking to try and get my hands on some slightly fancier toppings to go with. The kids are pretty easy to keep happy (ham, mushrooms and sweetcorn) and with MsGinge being veggie now that’s not too tough either (unless she asks for pineapple). I’ve always been a big fan of pepperoni but have so far failed in my quest to find anything nicer than I can pick up from the local sainsburys (the Tesco stuff is woeful and I don’t think Waitrose was much better) and was wondering if the collective mind of STW can guide me to anything better.

Also very happy to try out any other new toppings you can throw my way; especially if they happen to have a bit of heat in them.

Pepperoni………..and pineapple

Agree about Tesco being awful – seems most of their slightly interesting nibbles are the same. Salmon cream canape are just salty mush

Haggis

Basil and mozzarella for me. Tried mozzarella on a home made pesto base, that was delicious too!

Any local independent delis available?

Our local French deli (in Worcestershire) sell lovely salami and chorizo.

Venison(thinly sliced),haggis,mozzarella,spinach,peppers(you choose the colour)on top of a good tomato sauce.

Waitrose Chorizo is special. The sliced in a pack stuff. I usually have it with Mozarella, a little Cheddar and some ripe Stilton.

My current fave is cubed chicken pan-fried in Bart pilau rice seasoning – not at all hot but it has a lovely aromatic flavour.

My go to toppings are tomatoes infused with garlic, cheese, Italian style Milano salami or Neopolitian style if they have it. Chilli flakes, olives and lots of origano. I also drizzle a little bit of olive oil over it.

Nothing fancy and all available from the supermarket.

Swap pepperoni for thinly sliced chorizo.
Sprinkle a little chilli oil over the pizza once cooked.
Black pepper

Get decent chorizo, not supermarket stuff. Duchy charcuterie and also Good Game down in Devon do some amazing stuff.
I can highly recommend nduja too on a pizza. On anything really.

https://www.duchycharcuterie.co.uk/

https://www.good-game.co.uk/

Leeks, finely slice spud and blue cheese is a winner.

If you can get hold of some smoked mozzarella that’s good stuff too (easy to smoke your own)

I use the assorted Kielbasa from the local Polish shops. Mmmm, hungry now.

Get proper Italian tackle from adimaria – their cured meats are excellent compared to what you can buy in a supermarket. Guanciale is great on a pizza and superb as a base for a’matriciana or carbonara too.

Coppa is also great on a pizza.

Nduja is good but hot! If you want to make it vege gochuchang Korean chilli paste is great in a similar kind of way.

Nduja over here. I bought some from a fancy (read expensive) local deli and it was OK, the next lot came from eBay and is bloody lovely.

What are people using for the sauce?

The best pizza topping in the world is doner meat with Jalapeño’s and garlic sauce.

You can argue against this, but it would be pointless.

It just is

good tinned tomatoes, blended down to a paste, and then simmered to reduce on the hob.

That said, my favourite ‘pizza’ doesn’t have a tomato base, either:

Flammkuchen – a white cheese base with onions, lardons, maybe mushrooms

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flammekueche

and cheese* and caramelised onion marmalade

* blue, mozzarella, strong cheddar, goat…..whatever you fancy

My OHs favourite is Lahmacun. She cannot eat dairy so we make that (vegan cheese is an abomination). Minced lamb, cumin, garlic, chilli then once cooked top with loads of fresh herbs, coriander, mint and parsley.

Anchovies, good black olives and capers.
Garlic and mushroom.
Egg with rocket sprinkled over after cooking.

Anchovies.
lots of them.

What are people using for the sauce?

Home-made pizza sauce, of course. Are you forgetting where you are? (-:

what’s the difference between white cheese and philadelphia type stuff?

my favourite pizza is garlic oil and mozzarella. we often have cubed chicken on our pizzas, sometimes with sweetcorn

planning to get a lot more use out of our pizza oven this summer!

Sometimes I like a very simple tomato and cheese base with tinned tuna and spring onions. With about five minutes to go, pull the topping away from the centre and crack a room temperature egg in. When it is just cooked, take it out and leave for a minute before serving.

N’duja, Serrano ham, hot honey and mozzarella finished with rocket.

For your cold meats this pace takes some beating.

https://www.meatsaltsmoke.com

Tuna and pineapple…..try it ! It’s great👍

Being lactose intolerant put me on a prelude to going full vegan… so vegan cheese, peppers, sweetcorn and mushrooms, fresh basil/spinach is my go to. The Mrs has that too. Our 3 yr old just wants sweetcorn…only sweetcorn, a full tin on his pizza, no cheese, no peppers, its madness.

For the sauce, chopped toms and herbs (oregano/basil) some salt/pepper and some tomato puree into a blender then onto the hob to simmer

what’s the difference between white cheese and philadelphia type stuff?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fromage_blanc

That Quorn Vegan pepperoni up there ^^^ is actually quite palatable

another shout for ebay Nduja!! real imported Calabrian stuff. its the absolute best tasting substance on the planet!!

For the sauce, chopped toms and herbs (oregano/basil) some salt/pepper and some tomato puree into a blender then onto the hob to simmer

+ a splash of balsamic vinegar and a bit of sugar

Not something is often order in a restaurant, but since making my own the above suggestion of anchovies, black olives and capers is an absolute favourite. I put thinly sliced red onions and a light sprinkle of chilli flakes on too. You might as well be in Italy. 🇮🇹

Haggis does actually rock on pizza, fcat

For veggies then mushroom and roquefort is a favourite.  Cook the mushrooms a bit first

For sauce I use a recipe from this fine place from years ago.  Small tin tom puree, same quantity of water. Bit of vinegar, a little sugar salt and pepper. Cooked for 10mins while farting around getting other stuff ready.

Onion Bhaji.

Seriously.

It’s epic.

That Quorn Vegan pepperoni up there ^^^ is actually quite palatable

It’s great on a pizza paired up with Tivall hotdogs (if you can find them anywhere any more) diagonally sliced like you would a garlic baguette for a veggie take on a “meat feast” pizza. The last time I did it I chucked in leftover ‘chicken’ from a fajita mix I made a couple of days previous and it got absolutely inhaled.

Quorn cocktail sausages, sliced diagonally or into little rounds, are awesome too.

Haggis does actually rock on pizza, fcat

Onion Bhaji.

Honestly, if you take away the snobbery, the question then just becomes “what can I put on warm flatbread?”

Curry sauce base instead of tomato? World’s your mollusc.

Quorn cocktail sausages, sliced diagonally or into little rounds, are awesome too.

I like the cut of your jib. I’ve been wanting to try those for ages but I’m not a fan of cold sausage.

(Quiet at the back.)

Tuna with pepperoni/cizorio

Goan sausage

Local to me, and rather good.
https://www.cornishcharcuterie.co.uk/