How to Make Pineapple Pizza Even Better

Before any of you jabronies start commenting “Just take the pineapple away” or “It’s not a real pizza”, please note that this has all been said before, it’s very boring and no one cares. There’s nothing wrong with putting fruit on pizza (a tomato is a fruit), and adding tangy, sweet pineapple to a crumbly, cheesy, greasy pizza is a logical move. The acid balances the fat, which – say it with me – allows you to eat more pizza because it prevents your palate from becoming saturated with salt and fat.

That being said, putting watery chunks of canned pineapple on pizza is a crime — a misdemeanor, at the very least — and the practice most likely explains the pie’s controversial reputation. The best pizza makers take every ingredient into account and prepare them in such a way that they can perform at their best. Pineapple and any other ingredient you choose to pair with pineapple is no different.

Roast your pineapple

Raw pineapple can be astringent and it tends to release water during cooking. Pre-grilling the pineapple eliminates both of these problems. Grilled pineapple just tastes better. The heat caramelizes the sugars in the pineapple and removes the water, enhancing the flavor and softening the astringency while maintaining the spiciness. A little charring wouldn’t hurt either.

If you don’t have a grill, you can sear the pineapple in a cast iron skillet, make waffles out of it, or bake it at 400℉ until it’s as dark and caramelized as you want. Just cook it before it gets into the pie. This will change your idea of ​​pineapple on pizza.

Mix meat

With all due respect to our northern neighbors, Canadian bacon is a cured pork product. You probably won’t be surprised to know that my favorite pineapple pairing ham is prosciutto, but you might be a little shocked to learn that I don’t cook it, not even a little. Instead, I top the hot pizza with cold slices of fancy ham, which melts the fat slightly and gets those salty, porky flavor compounds moving and furrowing just enough (the cold meat also protects the palate from the hot cheese).

There is also no rule that says you must stick to the ham family. Pepperoni is right there, and its aggressive, salty nature practically begs to be tempered with tangy fruit. Better yet, try a spicy invigorating drink – sweet and spicy – a natural and harmonious pair. (I wouldn’t even get mad at pineapple and Italian sausage, although my Italian-American significant other could die from the cultural insensitivity of it all.)

Grease it up

Full disclosure: I haven’t tried this trick yet, but it’s a hack that comes from Ken Forkish or Ken’s Artisan Pizza, a reputable pizzeria here in Portland, so I trust him. Forkish enhances the pork flavor in his pineapple pie by smearing the filling with a thin layer of bacon fat. According to Food52 , this has a subtle yet delicious meaning:

Beneath the layers of sauce, cheese, ham, pineapple and more cheese, Forquish smears a very thin layer of bacon fat. You will not feel the taste of bacon, you will just taste delicious . We did a blind tasting test at Food52 headquarters and confirmed it. And while this clever trick works great on this rumaki-era pizza, almost any other pizza—with its lightly undersalted mozzarella strips, its hot, spicy sauce that welcomes a little more roundness, like a good vinaigrette—will be noticeably but utterly better.

You can, of course, spread bacon on any pizza, not just the one with pineapple. (Just don’t tell my Italian-American boyfriend. He’s very sensitive when it comes to pizza.)