Mushroom Pizza

Sunset from my back window

My friend came over yesterday for an evening of cooking and knitting. The food was good (a Thai curry), but would have been better if I had remember correctly and told her to buy the fish sauce. I guess I didn't have any in the house after all... but the dish didn't suffer too much from the absence of the fish sauce, so all was well. The recipe called for shitake mushrooms, stems removed. Instead of letting those stems go to waste, we saved them and tonight I made a mushroom pizza. I heated my pan and then added my oil and let it heat up as well. That way, the shitake mushroom stems didn't absorb too much oil, but did give the oil a strong mushroom flavor. I added to that garlic and rosemary. Once the garlic was starting to brown, I removed the mushroom stems, garlic and rosemary. I then turned down the heat and once the oil had cooled a bit, I added about one cup of chopped portabella mushroom. This I cooked slowly, allowing the mushrooms to wilt and absorb the flavored oil. Once it had cooked a while, I added some flour and then some milk. I combined the sauce with sharp cheddar cheese to top the pizza. I was very pleased with the results. I hope you enjoy it too.

Mushroom Pizza

pizza crust (see Rockin' Homemade Pizza)
1/4 c olive oil
stems from 5 oz of fresh shitake mushrooms, trimmed and sliced lengthwise
3 large cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1 large portabella mushroom, chopped fine (yields approximately one cup)
1 tbsp flour
salt and pepper to taste
3 oz milk
1 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
Heat a 2 quart sauce pan over medium high heat.
Once the pan is hot, add the olive oil.
Once oil is bubbling, add the shitake mushrooms and cook, stirring, until slightly browned.
Add garlic and rosemary and cook until the garlic just turns golden brown.
With a slotted spoon, remove the mushroom stems, garlic and rosemary.
Turn down heat to medium low and add the portabella mushrooms.
Allow the mushrooms to cook slowly for 5 to 10 minutes, until wilted and only a little oil is still visible in the pan.
Add the flour, salt and pepper and cook for one minute.
Slowly stir in the milk.
Once the mixture is smooth (except for the mushroom pieces), remove from heat.
Prepare your pizza crust and prebake for 4 to 5 minutes.
Remove the pizza crust from the oven and spread evenly with the mushroom sauce and cheese.
Bake another 8 to 10 minutes, or until bubbly and golden.
Remove from oven, slide from the pan onto a cutting board; cut and serve.


Someone got a haircut...