Mushroom and Chile Pizza Topping

Y’all. It was so good. Every time I make this, it was so good!

I have been making a lot of new pizza toppings lately, but this one I really like and am making often, as well as variations of it. Real talk here is that I’m not measuring my doughs for these pizzas, so I recommend y’all use a dough recipe you already like, or one of our sourdough recipes! This recipe is really just for the topping. Y’all let me know what you think if you try it! Also let me know what you’re putting on your pizzas! I am always on a quest for mixing pizza night dinners up with new toppings for me, and the occasional mix of pepperoni and salami for Child Tester.

She’s been getting into helping make the doughs lately, too, which is pretty cool.

What is weird about this topping is that it does have some ferments in it, but types I don’t normally post about. This uses an elderberry short mead and red wine vinegar. Let me tell you about those first, even though you can absolutely leave them out (sometimes I do!) and still make a super yummy topping.

The elderberry mead really was an accidental product, since I’d really just meant to infuse the honey rather than ferment it properly. Y’all know my memory, though, so I found that honey sitting in the pantry quite a long time after I’d put it there. It was definitely mead. Basically how that worked is that I put some elderberries in a Mason jar, covered with honey plus a bit extra, plastic lid on jar, then store. You can use dried or frozen berries if that’s available to you, but you probably want to rehydrate your dried berries a bit because honey requires extra moisture added to it in order to ferment. Or maybe go the lazier route (this is what I’d do) and add a tiny bit of water to the mix. Maybe a teaspoon to a tablespoon is fine, irrespective of the size of the jar. It’s not hugely important how much water gets in there because having the water will allow for fermentation even if it starts out really slowly. Whenever you remember that this was going on, go on ahead and strain out the berries if your honey has gotten to the level of fermentation you’re looking for. And if you just infused in the end, rather than fermenting? You’ll get some extra flavor and sweetness notes in your mix beyond what you otherwise would. That could be next level delicious, too!

This is a little strange, but I think our red wine vinegar must be in process on making new mothers and starter tea, because I don’t see it on the website as of when I wrote this. I will try to remember to fix that once it returns, but if y’all see it before I do, tell me! Either way, I prefer to make my own red wine vinegar, and I make it with malbec wine since that allows for the same flavor profile that the red wine vinegar I grew up with from the store does. That means I don’t have to adapt the recipes I’ve been making for years to a different vinegar. Sometimes, however, I’ll split some of my starter off for a special batch, with say, a shiraz or a nice zin for olive making. If you aren’t making your own red wine vinegar yet, feel free to buy some! These mushrooms really do just want vinegar, and they’re not gonna be fussy about how it gets in there.

Regina is the kind of red wine vinegar I grew up with, as is probably the case for most of you. Malbec wine, when fermented into vinegar and then properly conditioned (that means you put your finished vinegar in another container that was airtight and let it hang out until the flavors soften and round out), tastes basically the same.

One last thing on the vinegar, really quickly: it’s okay if you don’t want to make your own. Just have some red wine vinegar. Or shoot, switch it up to white wine vinegar! Or whatever you want! It’s your pizza; make it the way you’ll nom it.

Here’s what you’ll need

8oz of crimini/baby bella, sliced (mine came sliced, and it was worth the extra 20 cents for it to be that way)

1 small shallot, sliced (you can use leeks or onions, too, and sometimes I do with this)

Half an Anaheim pepper, diced (mostly I am using Hatch and poblano for this now, but any kind of chile you like will be good)

Couple tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper (I'm heavy on pepper, light on salt)

1-2 tablespoons (I sloshed it in) of elderberry mead (substitute is a bit of honey and a bit of elderberry syrup, but you also could just put in a bit of honey, or just some mead, or however you’d like to adapt this to what’s in your kitchen already)

1 to two tablespoons (again, sloshed) of red wine vinegar

6 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced (I know some of y’all don’t like this much garlic, so 1-3 is good for those of you this applies to)

1 to 2 tablespoons (ditto sloshed it in) lemon juice

Here’s what you’ll do

My stove doesn't work right and I'm awaiting it's replacement (forever, perhaps?) so I’m guesstimating that my “2” setting is your medium high based on how rockin’ hot that “2” really is. Heat your pan and add the oil, then mushrooms, shallot, and chile. Let them cook and get some good sear, stirring occasionally. Occasionally. There’s no Maillard effect to give them that lovely sear if you don’t let the food sit there and scare you that it’ll burn before you stir it.

I had just stirred this, as you can see, and hadn’t yet made it a more even layer in the pan, but you should be able to see some searing on most of your pieces (especially the mushrooms).

Plus salt and pepper of course. Hit with the mead and stir stir stir, then the vinegar, stirring whole time. I like to do the liquids separately so each of the solids tastes a bit different. from whatever flavor additions they got to soak in. Add garlic and cook just long enough to sear it, then add the lemon, then cut the heat. Put on your crust and bake as normal.

CT wanted y’all to see that she had rolled out her pizza and also put the toppings on. She says, I’m sure correctly, that y’all care more about knowing she’s in the kitchen doing things than whether the pizza is the same topping I’m posting about.