Fontina and Mushroom Pizza with Bacon and Onions

Tags

bacon, cheese, fontina, food, Italian, mushroom, onion, pizza

Studies show that people who eat more veggies and less meat have lower cholesterol. Not to mention 16 oz of mushrooms is cheaper than 16 oz of steak. But I couldn’t do without the meat… so I added the bacon. I just can’t give up the bacon 🙂

Fontina and Mushroom Pizza with Bacon and Onions

• 1 prepared pizza crust
• 16 oz mixed mushrooms, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 5 slices of fried bacon, crumbled
• 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
• 6 oz grated fontina cheese

In a skilled, saute mushrooms, garlic, thyme, olive oil, salt and pepper together until wilted. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread dough out onto your pizza pan and bake until very very lightly browned. Top the crust with the sauteed mushrooms, the bacon crumbles, the onion slices, and the fontina cheese. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is beginning to brown. Serves 2 to 3.

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Fontina Val d’Aosta

Tags

cheese, fontina, food, Italy, review

When I unwrapped this cheese, I noticed right away that it had a much stronger smell than many cheeses. Earthy and almost mushroom-like, the strong scent is forbearance of the equally hearty taste. This semi-firm, cows milk cheese originates in Italy.

Two types of rinds are found on fontina- Italian fontina has a natural rind from aging; Dutch fontina has a red wax rind. I tried this cheese with the rind, without the rind, and the rind alone. The rind is very thin and doesn’t have much stand alone flavor. I don’t see the point of removing the rind, though if you want to I don’t know why you shouldn’t.

Artisanal Cheese has a wonderful little tool to help you design a cheese plate found here. This cheese is full bodied enough to serve with a nice red wine. I really like this cheese and plan on purchasing it again in the future.