Mushroom and Cambozola Pizza

If you have never heard of cambozola before, well… now you have. I encountered this cheese when I was thinking of ideas to make for a wine party. In my case, I used the cheese on one of my crostini appetizers, and ever since then, I was hooked.

This cheese is unlike most cheeses. I get excited every time I slice a little bit off. Well, I get really excited. It is super creamy and has the subtle notes of gorgonzola cheese. Even my wife, who does not like most, if not all blue cheeses, loved this cheese. So as my first purchase of this wedge of cambozola, I returned again to purchase another wedge, but this time I was not going to make a crostini.

As I nibbled on this cheese in small bites, I looked around my kitchen, and as most busy weekday nights, I had to come up with something quick to make. So it be told, I made it a pizza night. I already had the dough ready, and saw some great cremini mushrooms on hand, so I decided I was going to make an excellent pizza, with everything I love in a steak, including mushrooms and blue cheese, but do it without meat.

Ingredients:

• Pizza dough, rolled out to about a 10-12″ circle
• 1 cup of cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup of sliced shallots
• 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese
• 4 tbsp cambozola cheese
• 1 tsp cracked black pepper
• flour for rolling your dough
• finely ground corn meal
• pizza wheel (optional)

With any homemade pizza, heat your oven to as high as it gets, typically 500 degrees. If you have a pizza stone, even better. Place the pizza stone in the oven during the preheat, and let it heat for about 25 minutes before placing your pizza on it.

Begin by taking a softball size dough out and place on a floured surface.  Roll the dough out into about a quarter inch thick, 10-12 inch round.

Arrange your pizza by lightly coating your pizza wheel with the cornmeal. This helps you slide the pizza off of the wheel and onto the pizza stone.

Place your dough onto the pizza wheel. Sprinkle the garlic and black pepper onto the dough. Top with the mozzarella cheese. Take about a tablespoon of the cambozola cheese and arrange near the middle, to top area of the pizza. Repeat with three remaining tablespoons. Top with all of the sliced mushrooms and shallots.

Gently shake the pizza onto the pizza stone and place into the oven for about 15 minutes, or until everything a light golden brown.

I like to let my pizza rest about 5 minutes on a pizza tray before serving.

A really rewarding pizza, this was a huge hit. If you are looking for a pizza that is earthy and has that subtle bite of blue cheese, this is the one. Enjoy.