Food - Drink
Why You Should Cook Mushrooms Before Putting Them On Pizza
By KAREN HART
According to a YouGov poll of over 6,000 U.S adults, mushrooms ranked as the third most favored pizza topping of 2021, behind pepperoni and sausage. The most popular mushroom variety in American is the white button mushroom, but any mushroom is delicious on pizza — as long as you prepare them properly.
Mushrooms add a delightful meaty texture and earthy flavor to your pizza, but if you don't pre-cook them, all they'll add is excess water and sogginess. Before baking mushrooms on your pie, sautée them for at least 10 minutes to remove excess moisture and create a deeper flavor, using olive oil, salt, pepper, and even herbs or spices.
Pre-cooking may be an essential step, but great mushroom pizza really starts at the buying stage. PMQ Pizza Magazine says to look for "smooth, firm caps” when buying mushrooms, and for some varieties, membranes underneath the cap can have a "pulled away” appearance, which is a good sign that they're not storing too much water.