Baby Shiitake Mushroom and Arugula Pizza

This is the first pizza I made using my last blog post's pizza dough recipe. Not only were the baby shiitake mushrooms locally grown and cheaper than the large ones, they didn't need to be sliced. To preserve its flavor, I added the arugula when the pizza was almost finished baking. Warmed by the piping hot pizza, adding fresh herbs and lemon zest immediately after the pizza comes out of the oven releases their flavors.

Baby Shiitake Mushroom and Arugula Pizza
-makes two 12 inch pizzas

2-3 cups of baby shiitake mushrooms
1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/2 cup of grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup (or less) of your favorite basic marinara or tomato sauce
1 cup of baby arugula leaves
2 teaspoons fresh herbs, chopped (lemon thyme, italian parsley, or basil)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon of finely grated pecorino romano cheese

-Prepare pizza dough.
-Set oven to 480° F. 
-While the dough is resting, heat olive oil or butter over medium-high heat in a medium skillet. Add mushrooms and sautée until mushrooms soften and begin to brown, about 5-7 minutes. At about 3 minutes, add the minced garlic and toss to combine. Remove the mushrooms from the heat.
-Top the pizza round with the tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and mushrooms.
-Bake for 6-10 minutes until the crust begins to brown. Take the pizza out of the oven, add the arugula, and return it to the oven until the crust is golden brown, about 2 minutes.
-Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board. Top the pizza with your choice of fresh herbs, lemon zest, and pecorino romano cheese. Slice and serve.