Pizza with pretty much everything.

As I was paging through the December issue of Food & Wine over the holiday break, a gorgeous pizza recipe caught my eye: Called Pizza Vesuvio with the Works, it’s from Rustic, the new restaurant that’s part of the Francis Ford Coppola winery in Geyserville, CA (formerly Chateau Souverain, the site of one of my most memorable meals of all time, but more about that another time). But the recipe to me seemed a bit fussy; it calls for folding part of the dough over the toppings, calzone-style, for a sort of pizza/calzone hybrid. C’mon, man: Just make a damn pizza. We made several adaptations to the recipe, like omitting artichoke hearts. See the original recipe here.

pizza with everything

1/2 recipe homemade pizza dough (or use fresh dough from Trader Joe’s)
1/4 pound sliced baked ham, cut into thin strips
1/4 pound salami, cut into thin strips
3 to 4 large button mushrooms, sliced
4 ounces fresh ricotta
4 ounces mozzarella, shredded
1/2 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
1/2 cup (approx) marinara sauce

Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 475 degrees (let the stone heat for an additional 10 minutes or so after the oven comes to temperature). Press pizza dough into a round about 14 inches in diameter. Sprinkle hot pizza stone with a handful of cornmeal and transfer dough to stone. Bake until just starting to turn golden, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove dough from stone to a large baking sheet. Top with marinara, then ham and salami, then mozzarella, then mushrooms. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning. Drop spoonsful of ricotta over top. Return pizza to oven and bake 12 to 15 minutes, until cheeses are melted and bubbly, and crust is a nice toasty brown.

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