Pizza Bianca with Roasted Mushrooms and Fontina

It's been a while since we had homemade pizzas for dinner, despite having quite a few homemade pizza doughs hiding in the freezer. None of the usual suspects sounded quite right for pizza, so we decided to take inspiration from this recipe. While the original calls for 3 smaller rectangular pizzas, we decided to make one standard-sized one using our existing dough. The combination of roasted garlic, earthy mushrooms, and rich cheese was outstanding. My one complaint? There was a little too much cheese (did I just say that?) for the amount of mushrooms. The adjusted ratios are below, with 3/4 the amount of cheese and an extra cup of mushrooms. I also reduced the olive oil a bit (the original calls for 1 1/4 cups total!). One other bonus for this recipe that makes it a great weeknight dinner? The cheese is diced instead of grated, saving a bit of time and/or cleanup.

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One year ago: Burrata with Asparagus, Pine Nuts, and Golden Raisins
Two years ago: Grilled Cumin and Chile Veal Meatballs
Three years ago: Potato Latkes
Four years ago: Tex-Mex Comfort Food

Pizza Bianca with Roasted Mushrooms and Fontina (adapted from The Cheesemonger's Kitchen)

Ingredients
4 cups mixed mushrooms (oyster, cremini, chanterelle, etc.)
3/4 cup olive oil, divided
salt and pepper
9 garlic cloves, peeled
coarse cornmeal
9 oz Fontina Valle d'Aosta cheese, trimmed of rind and diced
pizza dough of your choice

1. Heat oven to 425F.
2. Spread mushrooms out on baking try and toss with 3 tbsp olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Roast mushrooms for 10 - 12 minutes or until tender and golden. Set aside to cool. Increase oven heat to 500F for the pizza.
4. Meanwhile, in a small frying pan, combine 1/2 cup olive oil with garlic and cook over very low heat for 7 - 8 minutes or until soft and slightly golden. Remove garlic from oil and set aside to cool. Save oil for other uses.
5. Scatter cornmeal on a pizza peel and place shaped pizza dough on peel.
6. Squeeze garlic cloves with your fingers and spread over dough.
7. Scatter mushrooms on top of dough and follow with fontina. Drizzle with remaining tbsp olive oil (or more if you desire).
8. Shake pizza onto pizza stone in hot oven. Cook for 10 - 12 minutes or until dough is cooked and cheese is melted and golden.
9. Remove pizza from oven and serve.