Time for a Food Delivery Makeover: The 7 Tastiest Artisan Toppings for Gourmet Pizza
Posted by Sara on Thursday, May 29th, 2014 with 6 Comments
Is there anything more satisfying than a good slice of pizza? Gooey cheese stretching from slice to pie as you lift it away to your plate, a few scattered slices of pepperoni, and maybe a light sprinkling of red pepper flakes on top… perfection. There’s a reason this comfort food is a food delivery staple at the office, especially when employees are working late nights.
But sometimes we can get burnt out on pizza, and the old favorite becomes totally expected. Inject some creativity into your next pizza order by taking advantage of the latest food trend: artisan pizza.
Arugula on a pizza provides a fresh contrast to rich meats and cheeses.
Image source: Flickr user Charles Haynes
That’s right — pizza is getting a gourmet makeover. From fresher ingredients to artisan cheeses to gourmet toppings, pizza restaurants focusing on handcrafted, high-quality pies are opening to great success across the country. Some create individual pizzas to order along their counters, Chipotle-style, while others are concocting menus of elaborate pizzas with unusual — yet delicious — ingredients.
Just a warning: your health-conscious coworkers may love the trend, but the plain-cheese crowd may not. At a recent pizza party at my office, my boss opened a delivery box, wrinkled his nose, and said, “When did they start putting salad on pizzas?”
It wasn’t salad, exactly — it was arugula, just a handful, scattered across the top of a thin-crust pie… and it’s the perfect place to start with our introduction to some of the tastiest artisan toppings you might be inspired to add to your next handcrafted pizza!
1) Arugula: This peppery green is usually placed fresh (that is, raw) atop an otherwise cooked pizza, occasionally tossed with a little olive oil. Yes, it might look at first glance like someone put a salad on your pizza, but it’s actually a refreshingly flavorful complement to the rich cheeses and meats.
Soppresseta is a tasty, spicy alternative to regular old pepperoni.
Image source: Flickr user Alexis Lamster
2) Soppressata: Think of this dry Italian salami as an alternative to pepperoni. Sliced thin and usually quite spicy, it adds tons of flavor and a bit of heat to your pie.
3) Fennel sausage: Many sausages contain some fennel, but when a menu specifically calls out “fennel sausage”, you’re in for a mouthful of that distinctive, licorice-like fennel flavor.
Thick white rounds of buffalo mozzarella make for an especially creamy pizza.
Image source: Flickr user Alpha
4) Buffalo mozzarella: Made from the milk of a water buffalo, which has considerably more fat than cow’s milk, this cheese is incredibly creamy and rich. Thick, round slices of buffalo mozzarella will melt across your artisan pizza, and you’ll be a convert in no time.
5) Quail eggs: It may sound strange, but small quail eggs (less than a quarter of the size of chicken eggs) cracked over a piping-hot pizza will cook just enough so that the outside will set, providing you with a deliciously runny egg yolk when you poke it with your fork. The same effect can be achieved with a chicken egg, but it’s not as cute (and the smaller size of quail eggs makes them a little sturdier, which is handy when trying to survive the food delivery trek).
Brussels sprouts, roasted and thinly sliced, add a pleasant texture to vegetarian pizzas.
Image source: Flickr user Roland Tanglao
6) Brussels sprouts: Even if you think you don’t like Brussels sprouts, this unique topping is worth a try. Oven-roasted to bring out their best flavor (and remove the bitterness that can plague undercooked Brussels sprouts) they’re especially tasty on white-sauce pies, or when paired with a rich cheese and wild mushrooms.
7) Honey: Yes, honey on pizza is a thing now. Salty and sweet are a classic combination, and when honey is drizzled over a cooked pizza, it adds a subtle contrast to spicy, salty meats (like soppressata).
Liven up the classic food delivery order and try an artisan pizza at your next Friday lunch (or even a late-night hackathon). With plentiful menus and easy online ordering, it’s easy to have your dream pie delivered right to your office from Waiter.com!
When it comes to feeding employees and coworkers, make your company's food program really count! If your workplace dining plan needs to take it up a notch — or if you don't have one at all — Waiter.com is here to help. From Virtual Cafeteria Service to diverse menus to local takeout & delivery, Waiter.com offers customizable dining solutions for every business and budget. Contact us today to get started!
OMG. These are my types of pizza. Years ago I got tired of the standard pepperoni, cheese, meaty , etc regular pizzas. My friends all look at me when I come up with crazy toppings when I order pizza. These high quality artisan pizzas are right up my alley. I’ll be honest, the quail egg one would be a leap of faith but I would try it. On the other hand I am drooling over the Brussels sprouts one. As I love the combination of honey with foods. Sweet and spicy and sweet and salty gets me every time. I really, really want to try the honey combination. These artisan pizza are hot!!
If you like unique pizza toppings, you’ve gotta try the quail eggs! Everything’s better with a nice runny yolk… even pizza!
YUM! For some reason, pizza delivery always brings me back to sleepovers at my friends houses when I was younger – leading to late-night pizza parties in college.
It’s great to see that pizza has grown up WITH us. Gourmet Artisan pizzas are sure to be loved and appreciated by just about anybody in the office, right? It keeps you from getting burnt out on the plain cheese and pepperoni of our youth – you try new things, and I mean, there’s no such thing as bad pizza!
Love the connection you made between growing up & artisan pizza! So true. Although, to be honest, a good plain cheese pizza will always have a place in my heart 😉
There’s a lot to like about this take on gourmet pizza toppings. I’m right there with this guy’s boss: I’m OK with some greenery to spice up my pizza or add texture, but I’ve seen some that really do look like salads on a pizza crust. Love that this has alternate cheeses (another one that I see too little of is ricotta), and other less leafy options! One other benefit I can imagine from ordering out–options. I might be able to buy a few of these ingredients to stock in a work fridge to top a microwave pizza with…but when you can order for delivery and get these kind of exotic options, why wouldn’t you? I really, really want to try a honey pizza now…
Thanks Chris! You’re definitely right about ricotta. We seem to relegate it to lasagnas, but it’s so versatile and awesome on pizza!