Mushroom, Burrata, + Arugula Pizza

My perfect weekend night is making pizza at home for a date night in with a good bottle of wine and a movie.  I bake this pizza with a crushed garlic and olive oil base in lieu of a sauce, creamy burrata and goat cheese, wild mushrooms, and then once it’s just slightly golden brown and baked, I top it with a generous squeeze of lemon juice, handfuls of  peppery arugula, freshly grated Parmesan, and cracked black pepper.  I also like to top this pizza with prosciutto slices – it looks gorgeous and tastes delicious!

Ingredients:
Your favorite pizza dough.  I love this recipe , but my all time favorite pre-made pizza dough is from Trader Joes – their regular or whole wheat dough is perfect for this pizza.

Sauteed mushroom mixture:
8 Ounces mushrooms, roughly chopped – I’ve used cremini and shiitake mushrooms, and both work very well in this recipe.
1 Teaspoon crushed garlic, or about 2-3 cloves crushed garlic
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar

Crushed Garlic base:
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons crushed garlic, or about 3 cloves of crushed garlic

Pizza Toppings:
2 4-Ounce balls of burrata
Crumbled goat cheese (optional – but I always have this in my fridge and it works perfectly on this pizza, would highly recommend!)
Arugula
1/2 Lemon
Parmesan
Prosciutto (optional)
Freshly cracked black pepper
Red  chili flakes

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven according to your pre-made dough package instructions (Trader Joes dough, preheat to 475*), or the recipe you are using if making your own dough.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat with a splash of olive oil, add the mushrooms and stir to evenly coat the mushrooms with the oil.  Continue cooking the mushrooms over medium heat – you will hear them sizzling in the pan, and they will start to release their moisture after several minutes.  When the moisture has evaporated, pour a generous splash of balsamic vinegar in the skillet to deglaze the pan and stir evenly to coat.  The total cooking time here should take about ten minutes.

3. While the mushrooms are sautéing, make the crushed garlic base for your pizza by mixing the olive oil and crushed garlic in a bowl with a fork, and set aside.

4. Roll out your pizza dough on a clean and floured surface, spread the crushed garlic base on the pizza, break the burrata and spread over the pizza, crumble goat cheese in any open spots that aren’t covered with burrata, and sprinkle the mushrooms and any oil/vinegar left in the skillet evenly across the pizza.

5. Bake the pizza according to the package instructions, or of course the recipe you are following.  Bake until the cheese has melted and the crust is slightly golden brown.  I bake my pizza on a pizza stone, but if you don’t have one – turn a baking sheet upside down, sprinkle with flour, and bake the pizza on top of it.  If using a baking sheet like this, I would recommend assembling the toppings after placing the pizza on the baking sheet to avoid having to transfer it.

6. Once the pizza is baked, top with a generous squeeze half of your lemon, a few heaping handfuls of arugula and put all over pizza, freshly grated parmesan,  a pinch of red chili flakes, and freshly cracked black pepper.  I like to add prosciutto on top of the pizza, but if you’re a vegetarian you could omit this from the recipe – it is still so flavorful without it.  Bon appetit!