Sundried Tomato, Mushrooms, and Blue Cheese White Pizza

Today's post is a bit of a teaser. You see, I'm working on a post that I'm pretty excited about, but because I want to be sure to do it justice, it's taking a little longer than I'd intended. I'm having fun doing the research, but I know that in the meantime bellies are getting hungry, mealtimes are approaching, and folks are looking for recipes. So, to tide you over until that post is ready (and as a little foretaste of what is to come), I'm sharing a version of our favorite white pizza.

To be honest, this pizza is worth getting excited about in its own right. Tangy sundried tomatoes pair beautifully with slightly sweet caramelized onions, richly flavored sautéed mushrooms, and crumbles of sharp blue cheese. Matt and I have been making white pizzas for years so we have a few go-to versions, but this incarnation is my personal favorite. Its light and fresh, but still packed with flavor from all those 'gourmet' toppings.

Our white pizza is based on a 'sauce' of olive oil, garlic, and Italian spices (with a splash or two of my precious truffle oil thrown in on occasion). The absence of traditional tomato sauce lets the individual flavors shine through, and the thin crust keeps the pie from being bland and doughy. Although we've made our own dough in the past, I have to confess that we often make this recipe with store-bought dough for a quick, weeknight feast. As with most things, there's nothing better than homemade (so you should make your own dough if you can), but it's the toppings that really make this meal special.

Of course, you shouldn't feel limited to the toppings I've mentioned; sometimes we add spinach, chicken, sausage, or even whole, fat cloves of roasted garlic to our pizza. You can also change up your cheeses, substituting mozzarella, parmesan, or others for the more strongly-flavored blue. I've always thought that pizza is the perfect medium for expression in the kitchen, and I've never met one I didn't like (okay, almost never), so treat this recipe as a guideline and give yourself permission to experiment!

Sundried Tomato, Mushroom, and Blue Cheese White Pizza

1 Pizza crust of your choice, unbaked and pre-rolled/pre-stretched


Sauce:
2-3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Garlic powder, to taste
Italian seasoning, to taste
A few drops of truffle oil (optional)


Toppings:
1 small onion, roughly chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, crushed and finely chopped
4-6 button mushrooms, sliced
6-8 sundried tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles

Preheat oven to 425°F. If you have a pizza stone, place it in the oven during preheating (stretching the dough over a hot stone prevents soggy crusts!).

In a small bowl, combine olive oil, garlic powder and Italian seasoning to taste (I recommend a blend of rosemary, basil, sage, thyme, marjoram and a bit of fennel, but whatever you have on hand will work). Set aside.

Heat onion over medium-low heat until translucent and golden. Add garlic and mushrooms and sauté until golden and aromatic, about 2-4 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Remove pizza stone (or baking pan) from oven and, working quickly to capture the heat, stretch the dough over the stone to the desired size and shape. Using the back of a spoon, spread the olive oil sauce over the crust, taking care to stir before spreading since herbs and garlic powder may have settled.

Scatter the onion, mushroom and garlic mixture evenly over the crust and top with sundried tomato pieces. Finally, crumble the blue cheese evenly over the toppings. Bake until golden and crispy - between 12 and 20 minutes, depending on the crust recipe/package used. Cut and serve.

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