Time for a pizza night! These recipes for Farmers Market Pizzas come from Mill City Farmers Market vendor and PBS’s ‘The Great American Recipe’ contestant Tony Scherber of TonzKitchen. You can use Tony’s suggested summer toppings for a classic margherita pizza and fennel, caramelized onion and bacon pizza, or working with Tony’s crust, sauce and hot honey drizzle recipes as a base, swap toppings for whatever you find in-season at the market!
You can find more of Tony’s recipes on his website and by following him on social media. Plus, follow Tony as he shops the market for these pizzas and answers questions about his business, cooking and his experience on TV in our recent Instagram Live.
Farmers Market Pizzas
By Tony Scherber, MCFM Vendor
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
- 5g of active dry yeast
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1½ cup of lukewarm water
- 650 g bread flour from Baker’s Field Flour & Bread
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12g of kosher salt
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2 Tablespoons olive oil
Pizza Sauce
- 3 Tablespoons of olive oil
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1 28oz can of san marzano tomatoes
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½ onion, diced
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8-10 cloves of garlic, sliced
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1 handful of fresh basil
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1 ½ cup of heirloom tomatoes
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2 Tablespoons of tomato paste
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1 Tablespoon of salt
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1 Tablespoon of crushed red pepper (add more if you’d like extra heat)
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2 teaspoons of dried oregano
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2 teaspoons of onion powder
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2 teaspoons of garlic powder
Hot Honey Drizzle
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3 Tablespoons of honey from Ames Farm
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2 Tablespoons of Hot Chili Oil from yours truly, TonzKitchen
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1 teaspoon of water (optional, in case you need to thin it out the drizzle)
Margherita Pizza Toppings
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16 oz of mozzarella from Prairie Hollow Farm, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
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2 heirloom tomatoes from Nistler Farms, sliced into 1/2 in rounds, then cut in half
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1/2 cup of fresh basil, chiffonade
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1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper
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8-10 oz of Pizza Sauce from above
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Grated Friesago Cheese to finish from Shepherd’s Way Farms
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Optional: 4 Tablespoons of olive oil and 1 Tablespoon of garlic powder (or 2 minced cloves, mixed to combine).
Fennel, Caramelized Onion Bacon Pizza Toppings
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1 cup of fennel, halved and chopped
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6 slices of thick cut bacon from Sunshine Harvest Farm, chopped
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2 onions, halved and sliced
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2 Tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
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1 Tablespoon of salt, divided
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3 cloves of garlic, minced
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16 oz of mozzarella from Prairie Hollow Farm, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
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4 Tablespoons of olive oil
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1 Tablespoon of garlic powder (or 2 cloves, grated)
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2 Tablespoons of fennel fronds, roughly chopped
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2 Tablespoons of fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
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Grated Friesago Cheese to finish from Shepherd’s Way Farms
Instructions
Add active dry yeast to a bowl with lukewarm water, stir and let it sit to bloom/yeast to activate, about 4 minutes. In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, water/yeast, and olive oil. Mix thoroughly, until flour is incorporated and a dough is “loosely formed.” On a lightly floured counter top, pour out the dough and knead for 8-10 minutes until dough is tight, and has a nice “bounce back” when you push finger into it lightly. If needed, add more flour if dough is sticky- add about 1/8 cup each time to ensure it’s not too dry from flour added.
Once kneaded, cut dough into half and form into smooth, firm balls. Place in a plastic ziplock bag and refrigerate (minimum 4 hours, however overnight is preferred). Alternatively, you can let it rest for 1 hour, room temp, but won’t have as much texture, stretch or flavor compared to refrigerating it.
Once dough is rested, take out of the plastic ziplock bag and place on a lightly floured surface. Cover with a towel and let it rest for another 30-45 minutes. After second rest, stretch, roll and form dough ball onto whatever pizza pan, stone, or sheet pan. Add ingredients to pizza once the shape is formed. Bake at 475°F for 11-14 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbly/melted.
Pizza Sauce
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add olive oil and cook onions and garlic for a couple minutes until onions soften and become translucent and fragrant. Season with crushed red pepper, salt and pepper and cook for an additional 4-5 minutes. Add tomato paste and stir until paste becomes a deep red, caramelized color and all the onions/garlic are covered, about 3 minutes. Add San Marzano tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes and cook for 4 minutes. Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for a minimum 1 hour, up to 2. Stir occasionally throughout the sauce simmering. About 45 minutes into the simmering of sauce, add fresh basil and stir. 10 minutes later, add onion powder, garlic powder, and dried oregano.
Season with additional salt to taste. Once sauce flavor is to your liking, take an immersion blender and blend the sauce together (or pour into a food processor and blend till combined). Set aside to let cool. You can jar this up and refrigerate for upto 1 week after.
Margherita Pizza
Stretch dough onto pizza pan and add 1 cup of pizza sauce. With the back side of spoon, spread the sauce all the way to the edges of the crust. Add mozzarella cheese and heirloom tomatoes, spreading/placing evenly throughout the pizza so each slice has the perfect amount. Brush the crust with olive oil and garlic mixture.
Bake at 475 for 11-14 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden. Remove from oven and top pizza with basil and crushed red pepper. Let cool for a minute or two. Before serving drizzle with hot honey chili mixture and top with Friesago cheese.
Fennel/Caramelized Onion/Bacon Pizza
First cook your vegetables. In a frying pan over low to medium heat, add 2 Tablespoons of oil and then add onions. Sweat and cook the onions, seasoning them with a good pinch of salt, and caramelize them for at least one hour. This is a long process, but worth it. Cooking them for this long will allow them to break down, caramelize and become so delicious. Near the tail-end of your caramelizing process, add balsamic vinegar and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
In another frying pan over medium heat, add chopped bacon and cook until preferred crispiness is achieved. Remove from the pan, reserving a couple Tablespoons of bacon fat. Add hopped fennel and cook until softened and slightly caramelized, about 6-7 minutes. Add minced garlic around the 6 minute mark and stir until garlic is nice and fragrant. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Assemble pizza by brushing the crust with olive oil and garlic mixture all over the dough. Add the caramelized onions, bacon, cheese and fennel/garlic mixture, spreading/placing evenly throughout the pizza so each slice has the perfect amount. Bake at 475 for 11-14 minutes, until the cheese is melted, and the crust is golden. Optional: set broiler on high and cook pizza for remaining 3 minutes, keeping an eye to allow cheese to get nice and golden bubbly.
Once pizza is done, remove from the oven and garnish with chopped fennel fronds, hot honey drizzle and Friesago cheese.
