Merah Hati Cintaku: Mushroom Pizza with Fresh Herbs

This mushroom pizza is a white pizza, so no red sauce here! It’s covered with mozzarella cheese, goat cheese, and fresh herbs. Perfection!

Please tell us you are a mushroom lover? When Alex and I went to Big Sur, California last year, we had one incredible mushroom pizza with a breathtaking mountain view. And it tasted so good, we knew we needed to recreate a version for our blog! Our rendition of the mushroom pizza is pretty different from the original, but it tastes fantastic: and looks just like the one we had there! It’s a white pizza — meaning no tomato sauce — and of course we couldn’t resisting adding tangy goat cheese dollops. Keep reading for the recipe and all our secrets to the best mushroom pizza!

What kind of mushrooms on pizza?

Now, let’s start by talking about mushrooms. I will admit, I used to be a passionate mushroom hater. As in, I didn’t give them a chance until well into my 20’s (it was a texture thing). But I started with portobellos, and after a while, I started to warm up to mushrooms. As someone who eats a lot of vegetarian and vegan recipes, I’ve learned mushrooms are key in bringing in a savory, meaty umami flavor to foods! Now I’m a passionate mushroom fan: and I’d imagine if you’ve ended up here that you are too.

What kind of mushrooms go on pizza? Literally any kind of fresh mushroom will work here. We’ve called for mixed mushrooms, so we typically use whatever our local grocery has in stock. When in season, we’ve found that our local farmers market also has some interesting local mushrooms! Here, we used a mix of portobello and shiitake mushrooms, but you could use anything you can find: including oyster, cremini, and button mushrooms.

What kind of mushroom should not go on pizza? Canned mushrooms. Those slimy mushrooms in a can are what caused my 20 plus years of irrational dislike of mushrooms. And they’re absolutely not recommended on pizza!

Can you use raw mushrooms on pizza? Definitely not. Raw mushrooms when put into a hot oven dry out and become shriveled in the high heat. In order to eat mushrooms on mushroom pizza, you’ll have to saute them first. This recipe calls for sauteing the mushrooms with fresh herbs and adding a spritz of lemon juice at the end. It’s pretty heavenly!

How to make mushroom pizza

This mushroom pizza is a white pizza, meaning there is no tomato sauce! Of course, you could use tomato sauce if you’d like: because who’s going to argue with that! Our Easy Pizza Sauce is our tried and true method for an Italian-style pizza sauce that will literally blow your mind. (Promise!)

But if you’re into the white pizza idea, it’s even easier! Do you need a white sauce for white pizza? Not necessarily. Traditionally, an Italian white pizza is truly anything without tomato sauce: so we start ours by brushing the crust with olive oil. Then just add the cheese and toppings!

As noted above, you always always cook mushrooms before topping a pizza! This makes sure they’re perfectly juicy and don’t get dried out. These mushrooms are sliced and sauteed with some chopped fresh herbs, and then sprinkled with a little lemon juice. Top that dough with mozzarella cheese and mushrooms, dollops of tangy goat cheese (a must), and some more fresh herbs, and you’ve got an incredibly tasty pizza that will wow your friends and family.

How to grow fresh herbs

This mushroom pizza recipe uses a handful of fresh herbs: and it’s so much more fun to grow them yourself! We grow herbs all summer long, and it’s one of the most satisfying things to run out to the garden and harvest a few herbs. You don’t even need garden space: you can just grow herbs in pots as long as you have a sunny ledge! And adding herbs to your cooking is a healthy flavor addition, without adding calories.

For this recipe, we used a mixture of thyme, oregano, and chives: but you could use any that you like. Of course basil would be a natural option: even a small amount of chopped rosemary! Just be sure to use rosemary in moderation: it has a very strong flavor!

For all of our tips on fresh herbs, see this post on How to Grow Herbs.

And that’s it: all about mushroom pizza!

Would you try it? Let us know in the comments below if you do: we’d love to hear!

Looking for more pizza recipes?

Outside of this mushroom pizza recipe, here are some of our favorite pizza recipes:

Mushroom Pizza with Fresh Herbs

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

5 from 2 reviews

Author: Sonja Overhiser
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 7 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 7 minutes
Yield: 8

Print Recipe

Description

This mushroom pizza is a white pizza, so no red sauce here! It’s covered with mozzarella cheese, goat cheese, and fresh herbs. Perfection!

Ingredients

1 ball Best Pizza Dough (or Food Processor Dough or Thin Crust Dough)
1 1/2 cups sliced mixed mushrooms (such as baby portabella, shiitake, and oyster)
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme, plus more sprigs for topping
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh oregano
1/4 teaspoon plus 1 pinch kosher salt, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 to 2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 to 2 tablespoons finely chopped chives
Semolina flour or cornmeal, for dusting the pizza peel

Instructions

Make the pizza dough: Follow the Best Pizza Dough recipe to prepare the dough. (This takes about 15 minutes to make and 45 minutes to rest.)
Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500°F. OR preheat your pizza oven (here’s the pizza oven we use).
Prepare the toppings: In a saute pan or skillet, heat the 1 tablespoon olive oil to medium high heat. Add the mushrooms, chopped herbs, and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. When mushrooms are tender, reduce the heat to low, add lemon juice. Remove from the heat.
Bake the pizza: When the oven is ready, dust a pizza peel with cornmeal or semolina flour. (If you don’t have a pizza peel, you can use a rimless baking sheet or the back of a rimmed baking sheet. But a pizza peel is well worth the investment!) Stretch the dough into a circle; see this video for instructions. Then gently place the dough onto the pizza peel.
Brush a thin layer of olive oil onto the crust. Then top with the mozzarella cheese in an even layer, then the cooked mushrooms, and crumbles of goat cheese. Garnish with the chopped chives and additional thyme sprigs. Sprinkle with 1 pinch kosher salt.
Use the pizza peel to carefully transfer the pizza onto the preheated pizza stone. Bake the pizza until the cheese and crust are nicely browned, about 5 to 7 minutes in the oven (or 1 minute in a pizza oven). Slice into pieces and serve immediately.

Category: Main Dish
Method: Baked
Cuisine: Italian