October 20, 2021 - 3:08pm
Capricciosa Sourdough Pizza
Whenever I prepare pizza dough I make enough for two days of dinners for the two of us. Since I ran out of the pesto, I decided to try a Capricciosa pizza. This is a pizza with red sauce, artichokes, mushrooms, olives, ham (I used prosciutto) and mozarella. I also added some Grana Padano. For the red sauce, I opened a can of San Mariano tomatoes and removed three or four tomatoes and placed them into a bowl. Using my hands I squeezed the tomatoes at first discarding the tomato water. After the tomato water was squeezed from each tomato, I used my hands to process the tomatoes into a rough sauce. I added about 1.5 tsp of EVOO, a small pinch of salt (don’t forget as the pizza bakes the sauce will concentrate so don’t over salt), 1 tsp of dried basil, 1 tsp of red wine vinegar and pepper to taste. I don’t blend or process the sauce as it can make the sauce a bit bitter from breaking down the tomato seeds.
If you’re interested in the process and recipe for the dough, look at my previous post with all those details.
In retrospect, I think in the future I would at least partly bake the mushrooms and dry the artichokes before using them. The toppings were, after baking, quite wet and although most of the crust stayed crisp, the very center of each pizza was wet.
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This must be a tasty combo for sure. I like to sauté the mushrooms in some olive oil or sometimes I will soak them in some wine and then sauté them. Much better than cooking them raw on the pizza in my humble opinion.
Happy pizza baking!
Ian
Thank you Ian, I think next time I use mushrooms I will toss them with some olive oil and roast them in the preheating oven.
Benny
Less is more, Benny! The more toppings you use, the soggier it will be, especially in the middle. Nice cornicione though!
With the tinned tomatoes, I mash them up fine, then strain in a fine sieve to get most of the water out. Once dewatered to your taste, add 1% salt and 1 tspn sugar per 400g tin.
Lance
Good tip about straining the tomatoes, I will have to do that next time I make a pizza with a red sauce. Thank you Lance.
Benny
Benny - looks excellent as usual.
Tony
Thank you Tony, much appreciated, it was a good pizza.
Benny
Although technically I would prefer to saute, I usually microwave water heavy veg like chopped peppers and mushrooms etc. A lot of water comes out fast and I can drain it and put them on the pizza
Another great tip for drawing water out of the pizza and fast too. Thanks David.
Benny
Beautiful pizza. Ever since I started using this linked method with mushrooms I have been so amazed at the flavor and most of all the texture. Very meaty and a concentrated flavor like none other. Works great if the mushrooms are for an omelette or pizza or lasagna. https://themodernproper.com/how-to-dry-saute-mushrooms
I make all my pizzas like a Detroit pizza so you can put on more toppings and they never get soggy . Give it a try next time you have company . Butter is the key ingredient. I don't have brick cheese but any harder cheese imparts the right texture and the flavor is out of this world.
https://www.google.com/search?q=detroit+pizza&oq=detroit+pizza&aqs=chrome..69i57j46i433i512j0i512j0i457i512j0i512l2j46i175i199i512j0i512l2j0i67.3353j0...
Great ideas Caroline. There seem to be so many options for drying out mushrooms, but either way, I need to do something to them before topping a pizza with them that’s for sure.
I’ve actually never eating let alone made a Detroit style pizza, but its something I do need to try. I do like the idea that they can handle a lot of toppings. My thin crust pizzas don’t always handle the quantity of toppings that I want to put on them well.
The dry skillet mushrooms are way beyond delicious . We couldn't believe how the flavor is so improved and the texture is very meat like. As to toppings...well the more the merrier !! Good luck and thanks again for the Hokkaido tips
I will definitely try it Caroline, we eat a lot of mushrooms in our home, we just love the flavour. Thanks again for the tips.
Looks yummy Benny. Did you use white mushrooms? I find that white mushrooms have so much water content vs brown (cremini) mushrooms. I no longer use white mushrooms anymore
It's amazing what you did in your oven. We have an ooni and still can't get such a nice crust.
Thank you LL. I used cremini mushrooms, but I also didn’t do a good enough job of drying the other ingredients before using them.
I didn’t used to get as good a crust with my oven and in retrospect I was underproofing the dough.
I have to try your hand smashing of the tomatoes from a can. Interesting. Your pics of your pizza look amazing!
Thank you very much 🙏🙏🙏🙏 it was a good pizza if I can say so myself.
Benny
This pizza is the bomb !
I've got some dough waiting to diskify soon so I may be challenging you (just got to find the blow torch and pliers [for real])
Thank you Geremy. Blow torch and pliers, I wouldn’t have guessed that you’re making pizza but perhaps doing some plumbing or fixing your car. 😂