The Cheeses

For best results, use mainly milder cheeses such as Monterey Jack, Fontina, and, most common, Mozzarella. Use small amounts of the more pungent cheeses, like Bleu, Goat, and Parmesan in conjunction with the milder ones. Cream cheese and mascarpone are excellent for fruit pizza.

Mild, creamy cheeses:

• Colby, Edam, Fontina, Gouda, Monterey Jack, Mozzarella, Muenster, Scamorze, and possibly Swiss

More pungent cheeses, use small amounts of these:

• Bel Paese, Blue Cheese, Brie, Camembert, Cheddar, Goat Cheese, Limburger, Parmesan, Port du Salut, Provolone, Romano, and Roquefort

Meat, Poultry and Seafood

Meats and seafood are generally cooked before being arranged on a pizza. How they are cooked changes their flavor entirely, and changes the direction of your pizza toppings selections. Chicken, for instance, can be roasted, grilled, barbecued and marinated, or coated with any pizza sauce before going into the oven. Each process gives the chicken a distinctive flavor and texture, and makes for fun experimentation.

• Anchovies, Bacon, Beef, Calamari, Canadian Bacon, Caviar, Chicken, Clams, Duck, Ham, Lamb, Salami, Pork, Sausage, Scallops, Shrimp, Smoked Salmon, Turkey

Vegetables and More

Most vegetables do not need to be pre-cooked unless they cook more slowly than the other pizza toppings, or if they are very juicy. (See The Rules of Perfect Pizza when you're finished with the Pizza Toppings page.)

But, as with meats and seafood, you may want to do it anyway, to create a different flavor. For instance, the differences in raw onions, grilled onions, and caramelized onions are vast. The same is true of raw garlic and roasted garlic, fried eggplant and grilled eggplant.

• Alfalfa Sprouts, Artichoke Hearts, Asparagus, Bamboo Shoots, Bean Sprouts, Black Beans, Broccoli, Capers, Chives, Cilantro, Eggplant, Garlic, Green Chiles, Green Onions, Bell Peppers, Jalapeno Peppers, Leeks, Lettuce, Mushrooms, Olives, Onions, Peanuts, Pineapple, Portobello Mushrooms, Red Beans, Red Onions, Roasted Garlic, Scallions, Shallots, Shitake Mushrooms, Shredded Carrots, Snow Peas, Spinach, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Trumpet Mushrooms, Walnuts, Water Chestnuts, Yellow Squash, Zucchini

Garnishes

Garnishes are a new concept in pizza toppings. They should be applied after the pizza has been baked.

• Avocado, Chili Oil, Chutney, Guacamole, Lettuce, Olive Oil, Parsley, Salsa

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