CHANTERELLE PIZZA

Pizza is simple and relatable to almost everyone. From college students to fancy retirees. I'd serve this chanterelle pizza to someone who has a passion for food or an appreciation for the hard work that goes into serving food for family, because chanterelles are rare mushrooms. Some people make a living just by foraging for mushrooms and selling them to restaurants. These aren't served at the college 2 for 1 pizza place in the student union. These mushrooms are the real deal at $14 per ounce. My boyfriend and I were thankful to receive some from a family member who lives out of state. Just a few days after getting them, we put them to good use.

We like to make our own pesto sauce, but you can use a store-bought version if you want.

I had to sneak in our favorite BarrelHouse IPA in the background...

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Servings: 1 Pizza

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Cup pesto (we make our own mixture of basil, mint, olive oil, parmesan, garlic, and lemon)

• Trader Jose herb dough

• 1/2 Cup diced tomatoes

• 1 package Trader Joe's chicken sweet Italian sausage

• 1 1/2 Cup Mozzarella

• Handful Parmesan (for topping)

• Handful cornmeal (for nonstick)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Take dough of of wrapping and set in bowl to rise for 30 minutes on countertop. Set over to 400 degrees F.

2. Either make pesto concoction in food processor, if not using use store-bought.

3. Trim outsides of chanterelles and sauté for 7 minutes with garlic and a small amount of olive oil.

4. Cover pizza stone with half handful of cornmeal to use as a nonstick for the pizza dough. Then cover the pizza dough with rest of cornmeal handful and stretch to your desired size of crust.

5. If you like a thick crust, bake dough in oven for 10 minutes until risen to your desired thickness. We like our dough slightly gooey in consistency so we don't do this step. Neither are wrong nor right.

6. ​Cover mozzarella on dough. Then chanterelles, then sausage and diced tomatoes.

7. Put into oven for 15 minutes or until cheese is evenly melted. Do not overcook this. You didn't pay $14 an ounce for flakey brunt mushrooms!

8. Once out of the oven, immediately sprinkle a handful of parmesan on top of the pizza. As it cools off, the parmesan will melt over for a slightly bolder taste.

9. Serve up and eat like KWEENS!