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Foraged Chanterelle Pizza with Bacon and Leeks

Posted by Anne on

There are many ways in which you can obsess about homemade pizza. This is not an article about that. This is about a rainy day in the woods, discovering treasure, and making a tasty pizza quickly.

We’ve been amateur mushroom seekers for years now. We’ve gone to guided hikes, attended classes, and shaken friends down for tips. This fall, we were finally successful! Equipped with our knife to cut the stems, paper bags for the potential stash, and our laminated mushroom guide, we hit the trailhead early in the morning. Prepared to be disappointed yet again, we told ourselves it was just nice to be in the woods together. Quickly though, the gnomes’ luck on our side, we found a beautiful patch. After only about an hour and a half on the trail, we had enough chanterelles to to bring home and make one nice pizza. Grateful to have been rewarded, we left off the hunt, saving the rest for other seekers, and called it a day. What an amazing feeling – to tromp the forest and bring something delicious home. We felt like we had indeed found treasure.

Chanterelle Bacon Leek Pizza

Dough (for 2-3 pizzas)

4 cups bread flour, plus more for sprinkling
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp. salt
1 heaping teaspoon of instant yeast
2 cups warm water
2 tbls. olive oil

  1. Whisk the dry ingredients in a bowl.
  2. Add the olive oil and water.
  3. Bring the dough together with a wooden spoon or the dough hook of an electric mixer. Knead for about ten minutes by machine or hand.
  4. Let rise, covered, 40-60 minutes.
  5. Cut the dough into thirds or halves, depending on the size pizzas you’d like to make. If you don’t have enough toppings for more than one pizza, you may freeze the dough for another day.)

Toppings (for about one pizza, adjust as necessary)

chanterelles
5 slices bacon
2 small leeks or 1 large
3 sprigs fresh thyme

  1. Cook your bacon completely. When cool, chop coarsely and set aside.
  2. In the same pan, add washed and chopped leeks. Sprinkle a bit of salt over. Cook over medium for 3-4 minutes until they are soft. Set aside.
  3.  Wipe your mushrooms with a damp cloth and chop coarsely. If your pan is dry by now, melt 1 tbls. butter in it and add the chanterelles and a little salt. Cook for about 3 minutes or until they are soft to the taste.
  4. When your dough is ready, sprinkle a baking sheet or pizza pan with cornmeal. Drizzle and spread about 2 tbls. olive oil. Gently spread out your dough onto this prepared pan.
  5. Spread the leeks on the dough, as you would a sauce.
  6. Add the cheese, mushrooms, and thyme.
  7. Bake at 500F until it begins to brown. Remove from the oven and add the bacon on. Put back in the oven for about 1 minute.

Yum!