This text is part of the special Pleasures notebook
Caribou invites you to add more local foods to your grocery list by helping you “localize” your favorite dishes, including pizza! This classic of Italian cuisine can easily take on a Quebecois flavor if you use local ingredients.
Flours
The basis of a good pizza is its crust. Several neighborhood bakeries offer homemade pizza dough, fresh or frozen, ready to be rolled. Just add your ingredients and put it in the oven. This is a great option for those who don’t want to do their own. However, if the project doesn’t scare you, know that local flours are made specifically for pizza dough. You need to choose one that is refined and rich in gluten. This is what makes it elastic, tender on the inside and crispy on the outside.
To put in your basket
• Organic Tipo “00” flour from La Milanaise
• Blouin extra pale toasted flour
A homemade tomato sauce
If you have a stock of tomatoes — sauces, coulis, preserves — you can easily transform them into pizza sauce by adding garlic and dried herbs. Otherwise, it is possible to obtain store-bought sauces. Certainly, most do not contain local ingredients, but rather Italian tomatoes. Food prepared in Quebec remains a better option than one from elsewhere.
To put in your basket
• Homemade pizza sauce from Circle Pizza
• Tomato Sauce Pizza by Stefano Faita
• Gogo Pizza Sauce from Jardins Saint-Antoine
Cold meats
Want a carnivore-style pizza? There is no shortage of choices for pepperoni-style dried meats. Have fun discovering the many local options, but also consider trying other kinds of meats, like lardons, bacon, artisanal sausages or even smoked meats, which will infuse personality into your creations. For more original pizzas, you can also add smoked trout!
To put in your basket
• Rosette Chorizo from Scotstown Charcuterie
• Le Peppé des Viandes organic de Charlevoix
• THERR2 Lineage Pépère
Cheeses
With the vast choice of cheeses here, this is perhaps the simplest ingredient to “localize”. The classic to use remains pizza mozzarella. It is a cheese with a low humidity level, which makes it easy to grate, melts well and will have a beautiful golden color when cooked. Then, nothing stops you from trying other types of local options as toppings. Think, among other things, of goat cheese, which is delicious on a vegetable pizza, of blue cheese for a pizza with cold meats and of parmesan to add a finishing touch.
To put in your basket
• Pizza’olo Farmer with Italian herbs and spices from La Trappe à fromage de l’Outaouais
• Grated mozzarella pizza from Fromagerie Boivin
• Grated pizza cheese blend from Maison Riviera
Fresh vegetables and herbs
Take advantage of the abundance of your vegetable garden or go to local producers to top your pizza with fresh vegetables. They will amplify the taste and texture of your meal. Favorites include delicious wild mushrooms, garden peppers, tomatoes, green or yellow zucchini, eggplant, and more. Finish with a good dose of greenery, microgreens or garlic scapes, when in season. Don’t forget to garnish your dish with fresh herbs like basil, oregano or thyme to add maximum flavor to your creation.
To put in your basket
Full Pin Shiitake Mushrooms
• Ô Plant microgreens
• Irresistible Organic Fresh Herbs
Condiments
That’s it, your pizza is almost ready! Once out of the oven — and not before! —, garnish your dish with one or other of these latter ingredients: a drizzle of local oil, pickled condiments or even pizza spices.
To put in your basket
• Hemp oil with Tournevent basil
• Gourmet Sauvage unripe elderberry capers
• Black garlic cream from Black and white garlic
• Aglio Napoletano spices from Kanel
This content was produced by the Special Publications team at Duty, relating to marketing. The writing of the Duty did not take part.