Chanterelle and Sweet Potato Pizza with Sour Tomato Sauce and Pumpkin Seed Butter
Swedish food writer and art director Martin Nordin’s latest cookbook is dedicated to the mushroom. Called “Laga Svamp” (or “The Mushroom Cookbook”), it’s full of recipes that spotlight the meaty, umami and funky flavours found in mushrooms. While Martin has used mushrooms in soups, stews, skewers and more, for obvious reasons, we’re partial to his mushroom pizzas — and this chanterelle and sweet potato pizza might just be our favorite. Here, chanterelles are the star of the show. (If you know, you know.) If you aren’t already acquainted and you’re ready to step out of the button mushroom box, chanterelles are a good place to start because they’re readily available at specialty grocers and farmers’ markets (look for their distinctive golden brown colour and wavy tops).
Even if you’ve been eating chanterelles for years, this pizza will surprise and delight you. It combines layers of sweetness, creaminess, and nuttiness for a surprising depth of flavour. The base begins with a mix of pumpkin seed butter (like peanut butter, but made with pumpkin seeds and often found at specialty grocers) and vegan crème fraîche (or dairy if you prefer). That gets topped with wafer-thin potato slices, sweet shallots, and those earthy, peppery fresh chanterelles. It’s then cooked until slightly charred, then finished with a drizzle of Martin’s signature sour tomato sauce.
This sauce, it should be noted, holds a surreal power over Team Ooni. Ever since hearing about its salty, sour, and slightly fermented flavour, it’s been one of the only sauces we can think about. It’s just not something you come across all that often. Martin’s sauce combines yellow tomatoes, celery, and kimchi, the Korean fermented cabbage dish, the latter lending some of its funky bite to the sweet yellow tomatoes. This sauce is not to be skipped, but it does take 7 to 10 days to prepare, so make sure to get started well in advance. The payoff? You’ll have an unforgettable sauce that can be used for many more dishes: salad dressings, stews, pastas… you name it.
Notes: This recipe serves 6; however, you can reduce the number of dough balls and keep leftover toppings refrigerated in a sealed container for up to 3 days. The sour tomato sauce requires 7 to 10 days to mature, so make sure to start at least a week ahead of time.
Bio
Martin Nordin's passion for perfecting the ultimate veggie burger garnered him a loyal following on Instagram and led to the creation of his cookbook, Green Burgers. He recently published Fire, Smoke, Green: Vegetarian Barbecue, Smoking, and Grilling Recipes, and is the Creative Leader for IKEA Food, where he works to create delicious vegetarian recipes every day.
Time
30 minutes, excluding dough and sauce prep
Yield
Makes six 12-inch pizzas
Equipment
- Equipment
- Ooni Pizza Oven
- Ooni Infrared Thermometer
- Mandoline or very sharp knife
- Microplane grater
- Ooni Pizza Cutter Wheel or Pizza Cutter Rocker Blade
Ingredients
- - 6 250-gram pizza dough balls (see note below)
- - 1 medium sweet potato, brushed and washed
- - 2 shallots
- - 1 garlic clove
- - 41 grams avocado oil
- - 87 grams plant-based crème fraîche
- - 45 grams pumpkin seed butter
- - 120 grams chanterelles
To Serve
- - extra-virgin olive oil
- - flaky sea salt
- - 1 cup (200 millilitres) Fermented Yellow Tomato Sauce
Method
This recipe would suit a variety of pizza styles, but we think sourdough, New York, thin crust, neo-Neapolitan, or classic pizza dough would be a great fit. Make sure to prepare your dough ahead of time to ensure it rises at room temperature before lighting your oven.
Fire up your Ooni pizza oven, aiming for 350-400°C on the baking stone inside. Use the infrared thermometer to quickly and accurately check the temperature inside.
Using a mandoline or sharp knife, cut the sweet potato into 1- or 2-millimeter-thick slices (as thinly as possible). Finely slice the shallots, then place both in a large bowl. Grate the garlic clove over the top, then add the avocado oil and massage all ingredients together using your hands.
Place a pizza dough ball on a lightly floured work surface and push the air out from the center of the dough into the crust. Use your fingers and knuckles to gently stretch out the dough to 12 inches, or your desired size. Transfer the stretched dough to a lightly dusted peel while pulling gently at the edges to stretch it out further.
Mix the crème fraîche and pumpkin seed butter together in a bowl using a fork. Take of the mix and spread it out in a thin layer, working from the middle of the pizza base toward the edge. Scatter slices of sweet potato, shallots, and chanterelles evenly over the top
Slide the pizza off the peel and into the oven. Cook it for 1 to 2 minutes, turning the pizza every 20 seconds or so to ensure an even bake.
Once the edges of the pizza have risen and taken on some colour (Martin prefers his a little blackened), it’s ready to remove.
Retrieve the pizza and brush the crust with extra-virgin olive oil. Finish with a sprinkle of flaky salt and a drizzle of that show-stopping sour tomato sauce. Cut into 6 slices and serve right away. Repeat for any remaining dough balls.
