The recipe

1 pizza, about 28 to 30 cmabout 30 minutes, plus dough proofing and preheating

Ingredients

  • 250 g proofed pizza dough, ready to bake
  • 120 g fresh brown button mushrooms
  • 70 g crushed tomatoes
  • 65 g mozzarella, well drained
  • 1 tsp olive oil for frying
  • Salt and black pepper to taste
  • Optional few fresh thyme leaves
  • A little flour or fine semolina for shaping

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 250°C with conventional top and bottom heat. Heat a suitable stone or steel according to its instructions. Keep the dough covered until supple.
  2. Clean the mushrooms, briefly rinsing and patting dry if needed. Slice evenly. Cut up the mozzarella and leave it to drain in the fridge.
  3. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Cook the mushrooms for about 5 to 7 minutes, until most released liquid has evaporated and the slices have some colour. Season lightly and spread on a plate to cool a little.
  4. Season the tomatoes to taste. Stretch the dough to about 28 to 30 cm, place on a lightly dusted peel and check that it slides.
  5. Distribute the tomato, mozzarella and mushrooms evenly. Launch immediately and bake for roughly 8 to 12 minutes, checking from six minutes. The base and centre must cook through.
  6. Add fresh thyme if wanted, cut into slices and serve hot.

Cook the mushrooms before topping the pizza

Use 120 g of fresh shop-bought brown button mushrooms for one pizza. Cut them into slices of roughly equal thickness and cook them in a sufficiently large frying pan. They release liquid as they heat. Let most of that liquid evaporate before taking them off the heat. An overcrowded pan takes longer and initially leaves the mushrooms sitting in their own juices. Cooking two smaller batches is more useful than piling everything into a tall mound.

Prepare the mushrooms while the oven heats. Spread them briefly on a plate afterwards so they cool a little before topping the dough. They do not need to become completely dry. Some browning and little free liquid are enough for this version. The method is intended for button mushrooms; unidentified or foraged mushrooms are not interchangeable substitutes. Other shop-bought varieties may require different preparation and cooking.

Balance the mushrooms, sauce and cheese

Use 70 g tomato and 65 g well-drained mozzarella as the base topping. Distribute the cooked mushrooms evenly rather than gathering them in the centre. Leave some sauce or cheese visible between the pieces. A single topping in a defined quantity is easier to judge on the first bake than a mixture of mushrooms, ham, onions and extra cheese. If you add more ingredients later, reduce part of the original topping to make room.

The mushrooms are already cooked, so the pizza base largely determines the baking time. Still watch the thin mushroom edges so they do not become too dark. A few fresh thyme leaves added after baking make an optional finish; omit them for a milder result. Garlic is optional as well. If using it, add a small, finely sliced amount near the end of cooking the mushrooms so it does not burn in the pan.