Ten on Tuesday

10 Favorite Pizza Toppings

Ah, a topic after my own heart. I love pizza and I love to get creative with pizza. So here goes:

1. Anchovies- I know what you are going to say, but you're wrong. Anchovies are amazing. If the flavor and saltiness of individual anchovies on a pizza are too much, mash them up and mix them in the sauce for a more subtle approach. My best advice for people going off to college...learn to like anchovies. A pizza with anchovies on it will be all yours. All sorts of people show up at your door when the smell of a freshly delivered pizza drifts down the dorm halls. Nothing stops them faster than telling them it has anchovies on it. Just sayin'. 
2. A simple Margherita- fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, olive oil and herbs...how can you go wrong? This is my test pizza for a new pizza place. If you screw this up then I'm not coming back.
3. Caramelized onions, Portobello mushrooms, and Gorgonzola- now I'm not an onion girl by any means but this just works. Usually do this as a white pizza. Sometimes we'll add prosciutto or bacon, but this is still a winner without them.
4. Buffalo chicken- as long as you do the sauce right. I'm from Upstate NY where this was invented. You can't give me subpar Buffalo sauce. With lots of blue cheese dressing on the side.
5. Pear and prosciutto with arugula- the cheese on this can vary from goat to Gorgonzola. A divine treat. Bonus points...add fresh figs.
6. Clams- white sauce or red, it doesn't matter. 
7. Chicken pesto- what else is there to say?
8. Spinach, garlic and feta- so good.
9. Seafood- shrimp, scallops, clams, crushed tomatoes and lots of garlic.
10. Bacon- the candy of meats.

One of the most important things to me regarding pizza is fresh ingredients. Always go fresh if there is the option. There are times that if you can't do fresh, then skip that ingredient. Canned mushrooms are not mushrooms. They are an affront to nature.  Olive oil is always preferred as is garlic. We will often make our own, but we still have a few favorite pizza places around. Next summer we plan on trying pizza on the grill.

So happy Tuesday.