Broccoli

[Garlic head]

I have tried searching for answers on this but couldn't find much on it. I'm heading out to get some fresh broccoli as a topping and I was wondering if anyone else uses it much. I plan on just throwing it on along with the cheese and sauce and baking it as usual. Would that be advised in this manner, or should I cook it some before putting it on the pie?

Kevin

[derbow]

Hey Kevin,

My In-Laws are vegetarians and use broccoli on pizza all the time.  It does not work well to put it on the pizza raw.  Here is what they do.  Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Have your broccoli cut up in little pieces like you would put it on your pizza, and then put the broccoli in boiling water for 30 seconds, take it out and drain all the water off.  Just that little bit of cooking does wonders for the broccoli on a pizza.  It keeps a little crunch in the broccoli, but it is not raw.  cooking it any longer (over a minute) will make it mushy after it is baked on the pizza.

Hope that helps,

Derrick

[Garlic head]

Thanks Derrick for the response but, I went ahead somewhat clueless before your reply and it came out great. I put it on raw, then sprinkled a little pecorino romano, salt and olive oil on it. I baked this one in a pan in a 1.5 hour preheated 550° oven on my tiles. ~7-8 minutes later, here it is:

[Jack]

While I'm a tad late, I put steamed broc on top of the sauce, but under the cheese to help keep it from burning.  It looks like you did great.

Jack