I think I am on some major mushroom kick or something over here (see Top Sirloin Steak with Mushrooms and Red Wine Reduction).  Their musky, earthy flavor has really been calling to me.  Perhaps because it’s Morel season back home, and I would love to be tromping around in the forest looking for patches of Morel mushrooms.  My dad had these secret spots that we would go to every year; where we would load up on as many Morel and Cauliflower Mushrooms that we could find.  That may sound a little Green Acres to you…but it was a huge part of my childhood and my exposure to the wonders of food and flavor.  The only disappointing part of these excursions was coming home with a couple gallon buckets worth of mushrooms, sauteing them up, and only having one large saucepan of mushroom deliciousness.  A couple meals later they would be gone, but the memories of that flavor was always on the tip of my tongue.   I never truly appreciated Morel mushrooms until I went to buy them in a store and was blown away by the cost!

Anyway, Morel mushrooms don’t play a part in this pizza, but I bet it would be even more amazing if they did!  However, the combination of Portabella, mini bellas, and button mushrooms do a rather nice job of conveying that meaty, organic flavor I was striving for. Even better, this pizza doesn’t need sauce, or even loads of cheese to make for a delicious, healthy entree.

• 3 medium vine ripened tomatoes, sliced thin
• 1 Portabella mushroom
• 6 White Button mushrooms
• 4 Mini Bella mushrooms
• 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
• handful of basil leaves, torn, for garnish
• 3 ounces feta cheese, for garnish (optional)

• 1/2 batch Pizza Dough
• Cornmeal

Slice Portabella mushroom into long strips.  Slice Mini Bella mushrooms.  Quarter White Button mushrooms.  The presentation of the pizza will be much more interesting with a variety of mushroom shapes.  Saute mushrooms in 1 teaspoon olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until mostly cooked through.

Remove pan from heat and transfer mushrooms with a slotted spoon to a small plate to cool slightly.

Shape pizza dough into desired round or rectangle on a cornmeal dusted pizza peel.  Brush dough with remaining teaspoon of olive oil.

Top pizza dough with sliced tomatoes, evenly covering the entire pizza.

Top sliced tomatoes with cooked mushrooms, distributing evenly and minimizing the transfer of the mushroom juices as much as possible (mushroom juices might be yummy and all but they also = gooey pizza in this scenario).

Preheat oven to 400 with a pizza stone in the oven during the preheating time. Using the pizza peel, transfer pizza to preheated pizza stone.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until crust begins to brown.

Remove pizza from pizza stone using pizza peel and place on a large cutting board.  Allow to sit for five minutes.  Sprinkle pizza with feta cheese (if desired).

Top pizza with torn basil leaves.

Slice and enjoy your healthy, delicious dinner with a side salad!

So good!