Let’s get one thing out of the way right now- the only reason the tomato sauce on this pizza is yellow is because I have a teenage mutant (ninja?) heirloom tomato plant in my yard that has decided to produce dozens and dozens (and dozens) of tomatoes all of a sudden. Dozens.
It’s a good problem to have. This pizza usually has a tomato base anyway and the golden tomatoes I have growing are wonderfully light and citrusy, so I figured they would be a perfect foil to the spiciness of the genoa salami and a compliment to the citrusy notes in the goat cheese. If you don’t have yellow tomatoes, however, don’t worry about it. I have enjoyed this pizza combo for years using whatever red tomatoes, tomato sauce, or diced tomatoes I have in my house at the time. The easy out is just as effective in this case.
Back to the recipe… as I describe below, this pizza pairs excellently with a night in with a best friend and a bottle of wine (or beer or juice, whatever your bevvie of choice). In fact, I came up with the combo on just one such an evening.
One of my best friends, J, is the queen of homemade pizza. Pizza, wine, candles, an endless steam of youtube videos and witty banter. She moved back to Zurich recently and I miss those evenings sooo much. She was the one who first introduced me to the ‘salami-fennel seed-goat cheese’ combo and man, oh man, it’s a good one. Together, through lots of hard work and many late nights ( 😉 ) we refined the recipe.
For those who aren’t keen on spice, non-spicy salami can be substituted, although I would suggest something with a good amount of flavour- chorizo or regular genoa salami would work well.
Zesty salami, creamy goat cheese, the wonderful crunch and wink of flavour from some lightly toasted fennel seeds, all topped off with the fresh burst from the fresh basil. Cheers with a glass of red wine (or a sweeter white- Riesling or Gewurztraminer, as it will cut the spice), and toast to being best friends, culinary geniuses and masters of the universe. Well… something like that. 🙂
| Spicy Salami Pizza with Fennel Seeds, Goat Cheese and Fresh Basil | | Print |
- 1 lb of your favourite pizza dough
- Semolina flour
- ⅓ cup tomato sauce (I made a yellow tomato sauce with tomatoes from my garden here but any ol' tomato sauce will do)*
- 100 g spicy genoa salami (or any spicy salami)
- ½ cup goat cheese, crumbled
- ½ cup fresh basil, chopped
- 1.5 Tbsp fennel seeds
- .
- Yellow tomato sauce:
- 4 large yellow tomatoes (or ~15 small ones)
- ⅓ cup water
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ sugar
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- Preheat your oven to 500 degrees and place your pizza stone (or baking sheet) in the cold oven to heat.
- Stretch out your your pizza dough, dusting with semolina flour as needed to reduce sticking.
- Remove the pizza stone/baking sheet from the oven and carefully lay your rolled out dough on it. The dough will begin to cook immediately on the heated stone.
- Using a spatula, spread a thin layer of tomato sauce on the rolled out pizza dough. Top with an even layer of salami, a healthy sprinkling of fennel seeds and some crumbled goat cheese.
- Place in oven and bake for 5-7 minutes until the edges of the dough are lightly browned.
- Remove from oven and top with chopped fresh basil.
- (If you are making the yellow tomato sauce the instructions are available in the notes section.)
Halve or quarter tomatoes (for small or large tomatoes, respectively).
Place in a saucepan on medium high heat with ⅓ cup water and simmer until the tomatoes soften and start to break down- approximately 10 minutes. Stir and squish the tomatoes a bit as they cook.
Add garlic and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.
Using a fine strainer, strain the tomatoes to remove the skins and seeds. Use a spatula to press the mixture through and then pour the strained mixture back into the saucepan.
Add oregano, salt and sugar and simmer until reduced to the desired consistency.
Awesome! What a great combo of flavors