Spring Onion and Mushroom Pizza

Photo and text by KARA DiCAMILLO/ecoRI News contributor

I admit it. I love pizza. Aside from the fact that it’s easy, you can also make so many different combinations. You really can’t go wrong. I know that sometimes it’s hard to resist a good hand-cut pepperoni pizza, but loading it with vegetables instead of meats and cheeses is much healthier.

One of the nice things about getting fresh vegetables from a local farm is that they seem to last longer. For example, I’ve had the spring onions from Simmons Organic Farm I used in this recipe in my refrigerator for two or three weeks, and they were still green and delicious. I used mini-Portobello mushrooms and white-button mushrooms because that’s what I had, but any combination that you like works well, such as trumpets and shitakes.

And if you have truffle oil in your cabinet, a drizzle of it is delicious to finish the pizza after it’s cooked. After all, pizza is also about experimenting.

As with my Local Calamari Pizza with Arugula, I made my own pizza dough but you can purchase it at the grocery store as well. I’ve found dough from local bakeries in Shaw’s, and the Rhode Island-based company Top This! pizza crusts in local markets.

Spring Onion and Mushroom Pizza
Serves 2-3 

4 spring onions, white part only
3 cups of mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of olive oil
4 sprigs of thyme, de-stemmed and chopped
Salt
Freshly cracked pepper
1 pizza dough or crust
Half-cup of parmesan cheese, grated
A dusting of cornmeal
A pinch of sea salt
A drizzle of truffle oil (if available)

Heat your pizza stone on the highest temperature your oven will allow (mine is 550 degrees) about an hour before you are ready to eat. Sauté the onions in a tablespoon of the olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat and add a pinch of salt and pepper. Once they have browned, set aside. Once cool, slice the onions in half and then again in thin, half-moons.

Sauté the mushrooms in a tablespoon of olive oil in the same pan over medium-high heat and add the minced garlic and thyme. Once the mushrooms are soft, remove them from the heat and set aside.

Once your oven is heated, dust your pizza peel with the cornmeal (this is important, otherwise your pizza will stick) and prepare your pizza dough or crust on your peel. Brush it with olive oil so that the crust is evenly coated.

Top the pizza with the sliced onions, mushrooms and parmesan cheese. Slide the pizza onto your pizza stone and cook for about 5-8 minutes, depending on how hot your oven is, or until the crust is a light golden brown. When your pizza is finished, remove it from the oven by sliding it from the stone back onto your pizza peel. Top with a pinch of sea salt (this helps to bring out the flavor of the mushrooms) and a drizzle of the truffle oil. Let it rest for about a minute before slicing. Yum.