I always cook the crust a little first. Depending on how thick your crust is, 5-10 minutes is about right.
Slice everything really, really thin (mandoline???).
I'm not sure what order you layer things, but if you do a thin layer of cheese under the veggies, then the veggies, then more cheese it can help seal off the crust from any moisture.

Sounds really, really good right now!
We'll want to see the photos and hear all about it, of course!

Deanna

Lars, I always saute the mushrooms before adding them to pizza.

Since I put the mushrooms on top of the cheese, I don't find that it makes the crust soggy, but uncooked mushrooms do give off a lot of liquid.

Here is a recent thread on how I make my pizzas.

Thibeault's Pizzeria

Sauteing the shrooms first might help depending on how thick you lay them on, but the only topping I pre-cook is italian sausage(I only do sausage or pepperoni), and I use a lot of the same veggies that you do.

I used to do the cheese under the other toppings, and so I might try that, but I do think I will try sautéing the mushrooms first. I have enough dough for two pizzas, and so I might try different methods with each one.

Thanks for replying so quickly - I was surprised to see answers so quickly! I'll check again when I get home.

Lars

I cut the mushrooms very, very thin, so don't need to cook them first. When I have some pre-sliced mushrooms to use, I do cook them first because the pre-sliced are so much thicker than I would cut them. (The only reason I ever have pre-sliced is that they often look fresher at the store I have to go to than the whole ones.)

Peppers and onions I do lightly saute. In fact, I prefer caramelized onions on a pizza.

I tend to prefer the cheese under the toppings, however, and that may change how toppings cook.

When I make pizza, I also cook the sausage before putting it on the pizza. I use bottled mushrooms because they are already cooked. I lay them out on several layers of paper towels and press them down until no liquid comes out. Onions get sliced and left raw, green peppers get cut into small pieces so they cook quickly.I put cheese on first and then the sausage and veggies, then more cheese to keep things in place.Sometimes I varied the type of pizza by using refried beans and taco meat, lettuce and tomatoes and salsa go on after it has cooked . Or I vary it by using ham and pineapple.

I used Renee's advice and sliced the mushrooms paper thin and did not sauté them first. Next time I will try sautéing them first. I left the onions off and sliced the peppers very thinly also. I find that I can slice these vegetables as thinly as I want using a knife, and that makes clean up much easier. I took a bunch of pictures, but there were streaks showing up on my counter, and so I don't think I should post them. I baked the dough at 325° with Parmesan and aged Asiago cheeses on it first for 15 minutes so that the dough would not get soggy. It didn't, but the toppings ended up very wet, and now I think it is because I used fresh Mozzarella, which has a lot of water. Maybe I should try using Ricotta instead. I blotted the excess moisture out with paper towels, and the pizza was very tasty, but it had no crunch. Perhaps this is also because I made a medium crust instead of a super thin one. I'm not sure which I prefer, but the thin one seems to be more work. The dough was about 2/3 whole wheat flour, and I really like the flavor of this.

Kevin said he sent pictures of our Saturday evening outing with Jimmy and Maartje for a late birthday celebration, and if I can find those, I will post them instead of the pizza pics.

Thanks again for your advice!

Lars

Lars, I think your crust will be crispier if you bake at a higher temperature. You said you baked at 325 to start, but did you finish off at a higher setting?

Note that Ann T's baked at 510F and I saw one of those pizzaria food shows that said their ovens went up to 800F!

Annie

Too late for last night's dinner but just to throw in my two cents for next time, I always sauté my mushrooms first. Not only do they just have too much water in them, no matter how thinly they are sliced (IMO) but I don't like the way they bake if they are raw going into the oven. It's a different texture.

I also do sauté the onions and peppers. Not the olives, and not the pineapples. But any meat going on the pizza must be cooked first as well.

Sometimes I put the toppings over the cheese, sometimes under. I like it both ways.

Annie, I finished baking the pizza at 550°, and I left it in for a total of about 15 minutes. I expected the cheese to start getting brown, but I think it had too much water in it. I took pictures and will try to post them later. The fresh mozzarella is probably too moist, but that's all I had. I'll try to switch the cheese on the next one, but I still have some fresh that I need to use. Maybe I'll save that for lasagna and try using a bit of ricotta.

Comments are not too late, as I am making the second pizza tonight! I think I will sauté the mushrooms, if only for a different flavor. I would never put pineapple on a pizza - way too sweet. I seldom put meat on a pizza, but I would definitely cook that first, unless it was pre-cooked sausage.

BTW, I have a mandoline, but I can slice thinner with a knife. At some point, I think I want to try pizza on the barbeque, as I know that gets hotter than my oven.

Lars

I've found that the only way I can get away with not sauteing mushrooms or other vegetables is if I slice them thinly and use them very sparingly. If I want more mushrooms on the pizza, then I must saute them first. I've also found that I need to have a light hand with the sauce, especially if it's a bit watery. I always bake my pizzas from start to finish at 500 degrees and put the cheese on top of the sauce but under the other toppings.

I really dislike the liquid that accumulates in the middle of pizzas, so I try to remember all the above suggestions. But sometimes I'm in a hurry or I rationalize that one more spoonful of sauce or a couple of extra handfuls of sliced mushrooms won't make a difference. And then after I take the pizza out of the oven and start sliceing, I realize that I should have followed my own advice.

I precook mushrooms and any meat going on the pizza. I like to put all veggies on prior to the cheese so they don't dry out when the pizza is cooked. Just a personal preference. I put meat on top of the cheese, if I make a pizza w/meat, but I rarely do.

Well, there goes my theory, Lars, I figured if you baked it at 325 it would take FOREVER to get crispy.

the pizza experts here will have much better advice than I will, I'm sure, but I'll look forward to seeing your pictures and hearing how tonight's pizza comes out.

Annie

I add a light layer of oil on top of my dough before adding the sauce to help keep the sauce from soaking into the dough and making it soggy. I also make my sauce rather thick so I don't need much, usually 1/2 cup for a 16" pie.

Lars, I just don't like pizza if everything isn't cooked a little first, except for the pepperoni of course and I feel that way no matter which layer of what goes on first. I crumble the ground beef and Italian sausage and cook ahead. You can do several pounds and keep it in the freezer ready to go on the pizza at any time. I also briefly saute the onions and any peppers and I cook the mushrooms longer. Caramelized onions are good on there too.

The best way to "sautè" mushrooms for pizza is to do them in a dry pan over fairly low heat, no olive oil or butter, that way all the moisture is drawn from them and evaporates, otherwise they stew in the moisture that is released and will make the pizza soggy.

Wouldn't ricotta have more moisture than fresh mozzarella? (I don't know - I've only had the regular kind of mozzarella.)

I blind-bake the crust at 500 (my oven doesn't go any higher) for several minutes, then dress the dough and return it to the 500-degree oven. IMO, pizza cooked at lower temps is too mushy.

Sorry you didn't like the thin-cut, not cooked 'shrooms, lars. We pot like a large quantity of toppings, so I probably use only 4 good-sized mushrooms for a whole pizza. Maybe that's not enough to generate the amount of liquid that more mushrooms would make. IDK.

I hope you found your peel. I remember it being to big to use at your last place. I'm thinking you may have received it in a swap years ago. I could be wrong though.

I don't like shrooms on my pizza but I do precook them for friends and family that do. The same for sausage. However I like to use raw onions and peppers. I like them to have little crunch left after baking.

Pizza on the grill is great Lars. It's a great thing for a back yard party get together thing. Now I'm craving pizza!

David

I think I'll try the dry pan method for the mushrooms next time. I made another pizza last night, precooking the dough with dry cheese on top first and then added an extremely thin layer of sauce. I also added quite a bit of chopped fresh basil, two mushrooms sliced very thinly (for a 17" pizza), some black olives, and two jalapeños also sliced very thinly. On the top I used regular mozzarella instead of fresh, and it got very brown in the oven at 550° for 9 minutes. There was still a bit more moisture than I wanted, although the cheese was very dry and almost chewy. I didn't try the ricotta, although it is definitely drier than the fresh mozzarella.

I'm not quite there yet, but I'm getting closer. Before I was making pizza with a thinner crust and using a lot less on top of it. Maybe I should go back to that method, although it is a bit tricker to get the dough stretched out.

I bought the pizza peel myself, and it is aluminum. I might buy another one that is all wood.

Lars

Renee, if you are only using four mushrooms I can see that you wouldn't have to precook them.

I love lots of mushrooms (at least 20 medium to large crimini mushrooms) on my pizzas, sliced thin and sauted.

Lars, Even when sauted in olive oil or butter, the mushrooms give off their liquid , but as they cook the moisture evaporates and they will start to brown. Now they can be use on your pizza without them making your pizza soggy. I prefer the texture and the flavour of mushrooms sauted in butter/olive oil over the dry pan method.

My peel is a large aluminum with a wood handle. I've been using the same one for over 20 years.

All this talk of pizza has me wishing I was making one for dinner tonight instead of Saturday night.

Ann

I'm curious, what does nuking on a paper towel for 30 seconds do to a mushroom? I would think that a few minutes in a toaster oven would dry out/roast similar to a dry saute pan.

I agree with noinwi... brush a little olive oil over your pizza crust before adding the toppings. The oil will prevent it from getting soggy.

I'd also fry my mushrooms first to let out the liquid.

Maybe try using not too much cheese? I find that if there's too much cheese on a pizza, it makes it kinda soggy/droopy!

Ann, I know what you mean! I can now think of nothing BUT pizza. DH is supposed to be in tonight through Monday, so maybe I can convince him to go get the ingredients and make one tomorrow.

I can get 7 or 8 slices from a medium-sized mushroom, so 30 os so slices on a 12-inch pie works for us. Now if I were making a mushroom only pizza, I'd go heavy on them.