Salmon seasoned with sage and briefly seared, smoked anchovies, shitake mushrooms and mozzarella cheese top a whole wheat crust brushed with garlic-infused olive oil.
The base for this elegant, satisfying pizza is a baked crust brushed with olive oil. This year, we’ve been experimenting with whole wheat crusts, and in this particular recipe it is perfect. Baked on a pizza stone, the whole wheat comes out light and crisp. The sage adds a wonderful aroma and flavor to this dish. This would be a great pizza to cook on a charcoal grill or in a cast iron frying pan with a lid in camp.
Ingredients:
- 1 pizza crust, pre-baked
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 pound salmon fillet, skin on or off, cook’s choice. We prefer skin on.
- 1 tin (2 oz) smoked anchovy fillets, oil drained and fillets separated
- 2 tbsp tbsp pine nuts
- garlic cloves. Small cloves can be left whole, large cloves cut into smaller pieces to make about 20 pieces of garlic.
- two or three shitake mushrooms, sliced thin
- 1 tsp dried sage
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
- ground pepper
- 3 very thin onion slices, cut in half
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, preferably infused with garlic, but plain olive oil is fine
- 1/2 tsp powdered garlic
- additional Italian seasoning, to taste
Directions:
- Place a pizza stone on oven’s center rack and preheat to 400 degrees F.
- Ensure all bones are removed from salmon fillet. Rub sage into skinless side of fillet and set aside.
- In a medium-sized frying pan, heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, shitake slices, 1/2 tsp of Italian seasoning and ground pepper and briefly sauté. Onions should still be slightly crisp. Remove mixture to a plate to stop cooking.
- Return pan to medium heat and add garlic cloves and pine nuts. Sauté until garlic just turns soft and edges are light brown. Remove mixture to a plate to cool.
- Return pan to medium heat. Place salmon fillet sage side down and sear for 30 seconds. Use your hand or a spatula to apply light pressure to the fillet to ensure that it is evenly seared. Turn fillet over and sear the other side for 30 seconds. Remove to a cutting board to cool.
- Place 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil and 1/2 tsp powdered garlic in a small bowl and mix together. Using a pastry brush, brush olive oil onto the pizza crust.
- Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on the crust.
- Evenly sprinkle the mushrooms and onions atop the cheese.
- Arrange the anchovy fillets in a pinwheel on the pizza.
- Use very sharp knife to cut/separate the salmon along the grain of the fillet. Pieces should be 1 or 2 inches long. Arrange these pieces on the pizza.
- Add the pine nuts and garlic, and finish with a sprinkle of Italian seasoning.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Crust should be browned and the bottom should be crisp. Rest pizza for a few minutes before slicing to allow toppings to set.
Enjoy this pizza with a lightly-chilled Chardonnay or a cold Amber Ale.