Wild Alaskan Silver Salmon Pizza: The second of nine salmon recipes

With a fairly large tub of salmon fillets in the freezer and us on the downward slope of the school year, Barbra has challenged me to come up with nine new salmon recipes. The first creation was Salmon Burgers & Caesar Slaw. Here’s the second: Silver Salmon Pizza.

Put a pizza stone on the center rack of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees.

Ingredients

• pizza crust
• tomato sauce (see recipe below)
• shredded mozzarella
• shredded cheddar (about 1/2 as much as the mozzarella)
• Kalamata olives, cut in half lengthwise
• 1/2 pound salmon, grilled or broiled and cut into smaller pieces
• 2 strips thick bacon, cooked, drained and cut into small pieces
• 1/3 cup sweet onion, chopped coarse
• several cloves of garlic, chopped coarse
• sun-dried tomatoes, chopped coarse
• 1 sheet of nori (dried seaweed) cut into thin strips

The crust: We usually pre-bake our crusts for about 10 minutes and then freeze them. Later, we thaw the crusts and add the pizza toppings and bake for 8 to 12 minutes. The crust does not have to be completely thawed.

The sauce:

• 6-ounce can of tomato paste
• 1/2 tin of anchovies chopped fine (about 1 tablespoon)
• generous amount of Italian herbs
• garlic powder (or fresh garlic chopped fine and briefly sautéed)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• a few grinds of black pepper
• approximately 3 ounces of water–you want the sauce to be thick

Mix these ingredients together with a wooden spoon in a glass bowl and let stand for at least 20 minutes.

The salmon: Grill or broil. I rubbed the salmon for this pizza with a fiery Southwestern rub from Penzeys. For best results, cut or pull apart the salmon with its natural grain.

Other toppings: heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. Add the onions and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the olives, garlic and sun-dried tomatoes. Don’t overcook. Onions should be just translucent and still have some crunch.

Spread the tomato sauce on the pizza crust. Add the mozzarella. Add the cheddar. Spoon on the mixture of onion, garlic, olives and sun-dried tomatoes. Sprinkle on the bacon. Top with salmon.

Bake at 400 degrees for 8 to 12 minutes, until crust is golden brown on edges and underneath.

Sprinkle nori strips on the pizza after it is done baking. Set out a bottle of Cholula sauce on the table, and pour out glasses of a good amber ale!