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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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. 🇮🇹
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.
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.