Here’s a pizza recipe with the dark, rustic flavors of the North! Packed with umami and layers of smoke, this is anything but a boring vegetarian pizza!
Ingredients
Dough:
If your oven can go up to minimum 250C, and you have a pizza stone/steel, then consider the Neapolitan style pizza. Otherwise, it would be wise to use the Sicilian style that needs a lot less heat to become spectacular.
PS: Topping below is for one Neapolitan. Double it for Sicilian.
Sauce
- 150 ml Epic pizza sauce
- roasted with a kitchen torch if you have it
Topping
- Beer marinated aubergine
- 1 small aubergine (eggplant)
- 1 small brown ale
- 1 tbsp malt or beer vinegar
- 3 cloves bashed garlic cloves
- 10 g fine sea salt
To serve:
- Fried shiitake mushrooms
- 30-40 g smoked goat’s cheese
- Buy a fresh chèvre, or make your own, then smoke it like this
- A handful leafs flat leaf parsley
Method
Make the dough and sauce according to recipe. If you have a kitchen torch, grill the surface of the sauce to impart some beautiful roasty flavors.
Mix the ingredients for the marinade in a lidded container, slice the aubergine into 6-10 mm slices, mix well with the marinade, and let sit for minimum 10h. Overnight or more is fine.
Preheat the oven according to dough recipe.
Brush the aubergines with olive oil, then grill or pan fry the aubergines at high heat until soft, and a nice, dark colour has developed. Pan fry the shiitake mushrooms. Set both aside.
Shape the pizza, add the tomato sauce and the aubergine slices. Bake the pizza according to dough recipe.
When done, transfer to a wire rack, let it sit for a few minutes to rest.
Distribute the shiitake, dot the smoked cheese, and sprinkle the parsley over right before serving.
Exquisite with a glass of Chianti or a caramelly ale, like a ESB, Barleywine, or brown ale.
Do you love pizza? Here are even more kick-ass pizza recipes from the guy who was in the Norwegian Pizza Championship once.
