Calling all stinky cheese lovers! This pizza with mushrooms, leeks, and pungent semisoft cheese accentuates these heady flavors — and is delicious paired with beer or dry cider.
While most of my pizzas are inspired by a seasonal vegetable or favorite recipe, this one started with a cheese: Fat Cat from Birchrun Hills. It's a semi-soft, bloomy rind cheese made from raw cow's milk, in the style of blue cheese but without the addition of mold. In other words, it's intense with a little stink and a soft, almost fudgy texture that melts really well.
If you can't find Fat Cat where you live, go to your neighborhood cheesemonger and ask for a stinky cheese that goes well with mushrooms. Mushrooms and leeks have a little stink of their own, so think of this pizza as an opportunity to experiment with stronger cheeses that can stand out and balance the other flavors. Taleggio, beer or wine-washed tomme, blue cheese, and triple crème are all great places to start.
Pizza with Mushrooms, Leeks, and Stinky Cheese
Equipment
- Cutting board and knife
- Skillet
- Rolling pin (optional)
- Large rimmed baking sheet or baking stone/steel
- Pizza peel (optional)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 8 to 10 ounces cremini mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
- 4 medium leeks, white and light green parts sliced into thin rings and rinsed well
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
- 1 (14- to 16-ounce) ball pizza dough
- 4 ounces creamy, stinky cheese (like blue cheese, taleggio, triple crème, or beer/wine-washed tomme), chopped, grated, or crumbled
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 500°F (if using a baking sheet) or as high as it will go (if using a baking stone/steel; place the stone/steel in the bottom third of the oven before you start preheating). Let the oven preheat for at least 30 minutes. Then, if you’re using a baking stone or steel, switch the oven to Broil on high.
- Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and ¼ teaspoon salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until they release their moisture and the pan starts to dry out again, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the leeks to the skillet and cook for about 2 minutes, or until they soften. Stir in the parsley and remove the skillet from the heat. Taste and season with more salt if needed.
- Stretch or roll out your dough to a 12- to 14-inch circle, then transfer it to an oiled or parchment-lined baking sheet or a lightly floured pizza peel (if using a baking stone/steel).
- Place the remaining tablespoon of butter in a bowl and melt it in the microwave, about 30 seconds. Spread the mushroom-leek mixture on the dough, leaving a ½-inch border of dough all around. Brush the exposed border of dough with the melted butter, and scatter the cheese over top of the vegetables.
- Transfer the pizza to the oven and bake until the crust is golden and the cheese has browned in spots—8 to 10 minutes on the baking sheet, 6 to 8 minutes on the baking stone/steel.
- Remove the pizza from the oven; slice and serve.
Looking for more mushroom pizza recipes?
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