{"id":279,"date":"2011-04-12T01:57:34","date_gmt":"2011-04-12T05:57:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fornobravo.com\/pizzaquest\/2011\/04\/12\/the-buonchristiani-lamb-sausage-and-mushroom-pizza\/"},"modified":"2011-04-12T01:57:34","modified_gmt":"2011-04-12T05:57:34","slug":"the-buonchristiani-lamb-sausage-and-mushroom-pizza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fornobravo.com\/pizzaquest\/the-buonchristiani-lamb-sausage-and-mushroom-pizza\/","title":{"rendered":"The Buonchristiani Lamb Fennel-Sausage and Mushroom Pizza"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lamb Fennel-Sausage and Mushroom Pizza paired with a wonderful BUONCHRISTIANI 2006 Artistico Syrah!<\/p>\n

Buonchristiani 2006 Artistico Syrah<\/p><\/div>Not long after we started the website for Pizza Quest, we received an email from a pizza enthusiast named Jay Buonchristiani who happens to be one of 4 brothers who own a Napa Winery of the same name (http:\/\/www.buonwine.com\/).\u00a0 He grew up in Napa and has fond memories of cooking large meals and making wine in the garage with his father.\u00a0 He continued to build on his love of food while working as a waiter in many of Napa’s premiere restaurants as he got older.\u00a0 You can all guess the rest of “the dream” that he now lives!\u00a0 After college he returned to Napa to embark on a successful wine career.\u00a0 But, to make matters worse – at least for the rest of us not living “the dream” — Jay also has a wood burning oven on his property.\u00a0 I should stop here.\u00a0 We don’t like Jay very much do we?\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Of course I am kidding!\u00a0 Without his love of food and wine, I wouldn’t be sharing this amazing pizza recipe!\u00a0 This recipe comes after many large gatherings where they would cook and pair wines with their food often making 20-30 pizzas for their family and friends.<\/p>\n

Jay sent me a couple bottles of his 2006 Artistico Syrah, that he pulled out of his library for me and was the original inspiration for this pizza recipe.\u00a0 I also touched base with our cheese sponsor, Bel Gioioso Cheese, and they sent me some of their Fontina and Provolone Cheeses to use for these pizzas.\u00a0 (Now who’s living the dream?!!\u00a0 I sent two emails, and was sent some amazing wine and cheese.\u00a0 I’m just saying!)\u00a0 <\/p>\n

I hope Jay likes what I’ve done here, because the next step in my dream is to visit and join him at one of his pizza marathons and I hope we can bring a camera crew along and get some more great recipe demos and a few great webisodes. <\/p>\n

Fennel Sausage, Mushroom Pizza on Peter’s Neo-Neopolitan Dough<\/p><\/div>The pizzas were amazing!\u00a0 I took the pizzas over to a BBQ later that day and re-warmed them and served them with the Syrah (I bought more than one bottle), and everyone loved the pizza and was really amazed at how well the wine and pizza went together.\u00a0 It is truly magical when you bring ingredients together that create something more than the individual parts.\u00a0 And, then, when you are lucky to be able to add the right wine, it’s almost as if you have created a whole new dish.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

*This will be a two-part recipe pictorial.\u00a0 I tried something new that I thought would push my home baked pizza a little further that I want to post about in an upcoming week.\u00a0 Stay tuned…<\/p>\n

The BUONCHRISTIANI Lamb Fennel-Sausage and Mushroom Pizza Recipe:<\/p>\n

Favorite Fresh Pizza Dough
Italian Fontina and Provolone cheese medium grated (3 oz per pizza total)
Teleme Cheese (or other soft creamy mild cheese like Brie) (about 1 oz per pizza)
Lamb Sausage (lamb, fennel, garlic, herbs, but without chilies)
Shitake and White button mushrooms (3 handfuls washed and sliced)
2 Garlic cloves
Tarragon (3 fresh sprigs)
Thyme (5 fresh sprigs)
Nutmeg (1\/2 teaspoon)
White Pepper (to taste)
Sea Salt (to taste)
High Quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil<\/p>\n

From Jay Buonchristiani: A long time dream finally realized, my wife and I have imported an amazing Italian wood burning oven and plunked it right in our backyard.\u00a0 Upon doing so, we\u2019ve enjoyed having family and friends over to long dinners.\u00a0 One particular purple toothed evening I was checking in on our 2006 Syrah and biting into a formage blanc and mushroom pizza.\u00a0 Wow, what a combo, but I wanted to take it to the next level with some lamb sausage.\u00a0 It worked so well with both our Syrah and Dolcetto that the family thought it was worth sharing.\u00a0 I have notes on using your kitchen oven, but we are stoked on the dynamite quality from a live flame pizza oven, pumping out pizza in less than 2 minutes with incredible flavor and texture.\u00a0 The fire even adds some smokiness which further complements the pairing with Syrah.\u00a0 An idea to bring in this smoke component in your conventional oven would be to use smoked provolone.
<\/em>
Preheat the oven to highest setting and place a pizza stone or a piece of granite or marble in the oven on the center rack (note: a pizza stone or equivalent can be one of the best investments for your kitchen if you don\u2019t already have one).

For the Lamb Sausage:
Your favorite local butcher should have some nice fresh lamb sausage.\u00a0 Try and target a type simply made with fennel, herbs and garlic, but avoid anything hot and spicy.<\/p>\n

*From Brad: My local Whole Foods didn’t have any Lamb Sausage, but the butcher offered to make some from ground lamb.\u00a0 He used a basic Italian herbed spice mix.\u00a0 I added my own fresh chopped garlic and toasted\/crushed fennel seeds and chopped fresh fennel. <\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Heat up some olive oil on med-high and brown the sausage for about 5 minutes.\u00a0 Pour in some red wine to de-glaze and partially cover to steam while allowing the wine to reduce, about 8-10 minutes more.\u00a0 That\u2019s it!\u00a0 Don\u2019t cook the lamb too long!\u00a0 Cut the lamb into rough chunks (note, the center of the sausage should still be pink as the sausage will continue to cook on your pizza), drizzle with some olive oil, pinch of sea salt and white pepper to taste, add some tarragon leaves, set aside.<\/p>\n

For the Mushrooms:
In the same pan (with the wine reduction remaining) add the mushrooms, garlic, remaining tarragon, nutmeg, and more olive oil to coat.\u00a0 Saut\u00e9e the mushies until slightly browned and tender (or to your liking).\u00a0 Add sea salt and white pepper to taste, remove from heat and set aside.

Sliced Shitake and White Button Mushrooms<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Sauteed until slightly browned<\/p><\/div>\n

Pizza Time:
Pop open some Buoncristiani Syrah or Dolcetto (if it isn\u2019t open already)!<\/p>\n

*Brad: “It was!”<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stretch your dough out thin and make about 10 inch diameter pies.\u00a0 Make sure you have plenty of extra flour underneath your paddle (or your cutting board) so your pizza can slide off easily onto the pizza stone.\u00a0 Start by layering the 3 white cheeses (note: there is no tomato sauce on this pizza), then the saut\u00e9ed mushrooms, and then scatter some lamb sausage chunks around (enough so that each slice will have some, but try not to use too much of any topping).\u00a0 Use a touch more provolone or fontina over the top.<\/p>\n

Slide the pizza onto the pre-heated stone (oven set at 500F), and cook until crispy and golden (about 8-10 minutes) [NOTE: if using a wood-fired oven the time is cut to about 2 minutes] Garnish with fresh thyme and some more olive oil, slice and enjoy.\u00a0 Salute!<\/em><\/p>\n

A perfect balance of flavors!<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Lamb Fennel-Sausage and Mushroom Pizza paired with a wonderful BUONCHRISTIANI 2006 Artistico Syrah! Not long after we started the website for Pizza Quest, we received an email from a pizza enthusiast named Jay Buonchristiani who happens to be one of 4 brothers who own a Napa Winery of the same name (http:\/\/www.buonwine.com\/).\u00a0 He grew up in Napa and has fond memories of cooking large meals and making wine in the…Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":351,"featured_media":270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c59-written-recipes"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Buonchristiani Lamb Fennel-Sausage and Mushroom Pizza - Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fornobravo.com\/pizzaquest\/the-buonchristiani-lamb-sausage-and-mushroom-pizza\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Buonchristiani Lamb Fennel-Sausage and Mushroom Pizza - Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lamb Fennel-Sausage and Mushroom Pizza paired with a wonderful BUONCHRISTIANI 2006 Artistico Syrah! Not long after we started the website for Pizza Quest, we received an email from a pizza enthusiast named Jay Buonchristiani who happens to be one of 4 brothers who own a Napa Winery of the same name (http:\/\/www.buonwine.com\/).\u00a0 He grew up in Napa and has fond memories of cooking large meals and making wine in the...Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.fornobravo.com\/pizzaquest\/the-buonchristiani-lamb-sausage-and-mushroom-pizza\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PizzaQuestFornoBravo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-04-12T05:57:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.fornobravo.com\/pizzaquest\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2011\/04\/_mg_4545.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"427\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brad English\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brad English\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fornobravo.com\/pizzaquest\/the-buonchristiani-lamb-sausage-and-mushroom-pizza\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.fornobravo.com\/pizzaquest\/the-buonchristiani-lamb-sausage-and-mushroom-pizza\/\",\"name\":\"The Buonchristiani Lamb Fennel-Sausage and Mushroom Pizza - Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fornobravo.com\/pizzaquest\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-04-12T05:57:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-04-12T05:57:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fornobravo.com\/pizzaquest\/#\/schema\/person\/5c45b9d10b57201e2ba13337f1724018\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fornobravo.com\/pizzaquest\/the-buonchristiani-lamb-sausage-and-mushroom-pizza\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.fornobravo.com\/pizzaquest\/the-buonchristiani-lamb-sausage-and-mushroom-pizza\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fornobravo.com\/pizzaquest\/the-buonchristiani-lamb-sausage-and-mushroom-pizza\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.fornobravo.com\/pizzaquest\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Buonchristiani Lamb Fennel-Sausage and Mushroom Pizza\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fornobravo.com\/pizzaquest\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.fornobravo.com\/pizzaquest\/\",\"name\":\"Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart\",\"description\":\"A journey of self-discovery through pizza.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.fornobravo.com\/pizzaquest\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fornobravo.com\/pizzaquest\/#\/schema\/person\/5c45b9d10b57201e2ba13337f1724018\",\"name\":\"Brad English\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fornobravo.com\/pizzaquest\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f997b270bc5efdfb1b6bf71fedbd9f7e?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f997b270bc5efdfb1b6bf71fedbd9f7e?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Brad English\"},\"description\":\"Brad English is a producer based out of Los Angeles, CA. 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