Once in a Blue Moon Pizza with Chicken of the Woods

The stars truly aligned for this perfect pizza.

Once in a Blue Moon Pizza
With Chicken of the Woods

The pizza gods shone favorably on some friends and me this weekend; Saturday morning I made off with a nice haul of fresh chicken of the woods mushrooms. By afternoon I was sipping tea and trimming shiso leaves in a friend’s home garden. Shiso is the Japanese name for an herb in the mint family. It is commonly enjoyed in Japan, China and Korea for its culinary and medicinal properties.

Taking in my friend’s outdoor wood-fired oven, I suggested we throw a pizza party. He extended the invite to his good friends, a lovely young family of dairy farmers. We settled on pizza Sunday; so I worked late into the night making 9 pizza dough balls and the shiso pesto. 

I started my Sunday morning on another foraging adventure with a good buddy of mine. We snagged a beautiful maitake mushroom and plenty of honey mushrooms (but I’ll save those for another post). Back home, I had just enough time to cook up the chicken of the woods for the pizza party. Once cooked, they tasted fleshy and savory—just like pieces of fatty chicken. We headed over and met with the dairy farmers, who taught us how to make mozzarella from scratch with their farm fresh curd. If things weren’t going good enough, my friend the host was generous enough to share some of his fifteen-years-aged black garlic!

Hence the name of this pizza. The stars really aligned for us!

Below you will find the recipe for shiso pesto and sautéed chicken of the woods mushrooms for pizza. I followed a wood-fired oven specific recipe for Neapolitan-style pizza dough at 60% hydration from Mastering Pizza: The Art and Practice of Handmade Pizza, Focaccia, and Calzone, by Marc Vetri. Pick this book up if you want to make better pizza at home. Since most people do not have their own wood-fired ovens, I felt there was no need to copy the recipe over. I suggest following the dough recipe that best suits your situation.

For the shiso pesto:

• 200g pine nuts, toasted
• 12g garlic, minced
  
• 50g shiso leaves, roughly chopped
• 21g fennel, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
• 335g extra-virgin olive oil
• 5g parmigiano-reggiano, finely grated
• Juice of one lemon

For the mushrooms:

• 1 pound chicken of the woods mushrooms, washed and wiped clean
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 1/2 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped
• A splash of sherry or white wine
• Salt and plenty of pepper, to taste

For everything else:

• 1/2 cup crushed walnuts, for topping
• Additional grated parmesan, for topping
• Mozzarella, for topping
• 1/3 cup black garlic cloves, rough chopped, for topping

To make the pesto: Toast the pine nuts in a pan over medium heat, or in the oven at 375 until golden brown—either way, watch them attentively so that they don’t accidentally burn. Transfer the toasted pine nuts to a food processor or blender along with the garlic and salt, and pulse a couple of times. Add the herbs and pulse again, throwing in a splash of water to the mixture to help the blades turn if necessary. With the motor running, drizzle the oil into the processor until the pesto emulsifies. Fold in the grated cheese and lemon juice and set aside.

To cook the mushrooms: Heat a pan over medium high heat. Toss in the mushrooms and dry saute them until their water has cooked out, about 7 minutes. Stir in the butter, garlic and sage and saute for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. De-glaze the pan with a splash of sherry or white wine and saute until the alcohol has cooked off, about a minute. Remove from heat, season with salt and lots of pepper, and set aside.

To make the pizza: With your oven pre-heated, stretch and shape your pizza dough to your desired thinness and shape. Spoon a ladleful of pesto onto the dough. Follow with the seasoned mushrooms and some grated parmesan. Bake the pizza until done, then finish with toppings of  mozzarella, black garlic, crushed walnuts, and more parmesan. Serve hot and enjoy.