As one of our guests said when I won the weekly pizz-off pizza dinner with this pizza: “It’s not fair, no one can loose with seared tuna!” To be fair I have to concede the point I suppose, as even breakfast cereal with seared tuna would probably be awesome (someone try and let us know). The dough was new for us as our friends at Rossi Pasta sent us a few samples to cook with (Thanks guys). Probably one of our best tasting pizza’s ever.
Pizza Recipe
- 1 bag of Rossi Pasta whole wheat pizza dough
- 4 tbs sesame seeds
- 1 large raw ahi tuna steak in sushi quality (About 12 ounces)
- 1 bunch of brown beech mushrooms
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 1 pound regular mushrooms
- 2-3 ounces shredded parmesan
- 1 ripe avocado
- 5 tsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp wasabi
- 2 tbs pickled ginger
The key to making this pizza is timing. You should read the entire recipe before starting, as you want most of the ingredients to be read at exactly the time the pizza comes out of the oven.
Roll the tuna steak in the sesame seeds until all sides are covered. Add more seeds if you don’t have enough. Wrap the steak tightly in plastic foil and place in the refrigerator for half an hour. This will make the seeds stick better during the frying process.
Prepare the pizza dough according to the instructions on the package. This includes a short rising time of about 15/30 minutes depending on your house temperature. While the dough rises, prepare the other ingredients as follows.
Heat 1 tbs olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Slice and dice 3/4 of the mushrooms into small pieces. Fry them on the hot pan until they are light brown, and season with a little salt and pepper. Remove and let them cool a little, then pulse-process them in a food processor for about 10 seconds until you have a rough mushroom sauce. This is the base for the pizza.
Add another tbs olive oil to the empty (but still hot) skillet. Cut the remaining mushrooms in quarters, and fry them with the beech mushrooms. Make sure to separate the beech mushrooms from the base first. Add a little salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.
When the dough is ready, roll it out to form a pizza. Spread the mushroom sauce all over, making sure to reach all the way to the edges. If you have too much sauce, save the rest for tomorrow. Add the remaining quarter mushroom pieces (not the beech mushrooms). Spread the Parmesan cheese on the mushroom.
Bake the pizza according to instructions on the package, except a few minutes shorter. There are not a lot of ingredients on, so it can easily over bake. Watch it.
While the pizza bakes, remove the tune from the refrigerator. Add another tbs olive oil to the skillet and turn the heat up to 3/4 power. Once the skillet is really hot, sear the tuna steak on both sides, but only about 2 minutes on each side. You want a very quick thin sear that barely heats it all the way through the steak. That’s right, the middle is raw (which is why the steak must be sushi quality).
Mix the soy sauce with the wasabi until it’s dissolved.
When the pizza comes out of the oven, work fast: Slice the still hot tuna, and slice the avocado. Place slices of tuna and avocado all over the pizza. The key is to make sure each bite contains a little of both if possible. Place small pieces of pickled ginger around the pizza (to your taste), and cut them in half if they are too big. Spread the beech mushrooms on top, and finally drizzle the soy sauce with wasabi all over the pizza, cut it and serve immediately.
Let us know if you like it!
