Mushroom & Leek Pizza

I cracked open my ancient Field Of Greens cookbook last week and headed straight to the chapter on pizza. We try to do pizza on Thursdays and they typically involve onions, tomatoes, mushrooms and spinach. With maybe some leftover chicken or sausage thrown into the mix! They are always delicious and moreish, however, I decided I wanted to try something different for a change.

I still had dried porcinis left over from the herculean effort that was Massimo Bottura's Ragù earlier this year. The recipe makes use of a very clever method to impart the porcini flavour throughout the topping, while only using a scant 1/4 oz. Considering the Italian/European porcinis (not the cheap Chinese knock- offs) are drops of gold, I can certainly appreciate minimizing their use in a dish.

Ingredients

• 1/4 oz dried porcinis, soaked in 1/2 cup warm water for 10 minutes

• 2 Tbsp EVOO

• 1/2 lb white and/or crimini mushrooms, thickly sliced

• Salt & Black pepper

• 2 large leeks, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced

• 2 finely chopped cloves of garlic

• 1/4 cup dry white wine

• Pizza dough of your choice

• 1/4 lb Gruyere cheese (I only had Italian Raschera & Mozzarella!)

• 1oz Parmigiano, grated

Method

1. Finely chop the porcinis and reserve the liquid

2. Heat 1 tbsp EVOO in a sauté pan and sear the fresh mushrooms with1/4 tsp of salt and a little freshly ground black pepper. Once they are golden, add the porcini liquid (this is the clever way to impart that great flavour to the "lesser" shrooms!). Cook until all liquid has evaporated.

3. Heat the remaining tbsp of oil and add the leeks, 1/4 tsp salt and some pepper. Once they begin to soften, add the garlic and porcinis. Cover the pan and steam for 5 minutes or so, until the leeks are tender. Add the wine to deglaze the pan and simmer until evaporated. Add the shrooms and set aside.

4. Heat oven to 450°F-500°F depending on your oven/preference

5. Prepare your pizza dough on a peel with coarse cornmeal and brush with garlic infused olive oil. Add topping and cheeses and transfer to a hot stone to bake for 8-10 until cheese is golden!