Let’s get one thing out of the way right now- the only reason the tomato sauce on this pizza is yellow is because I have a teenage mutant (ninja?) heirloom tomato plant in my yard that has decided to produce dozens and dozens (and dozens) of tomatoes all of a sudden. Dozens.

It’s a good problem to have. This pizza usually has a tomato base anyway and the golden tomatoes I have growing are wonderfully light and citrusy, so I figured they would be a perfect foil to the spiciness of the genoa salami and a compliment to the citrusy notes in the goat cheese. If you don’t have yellow tomatoes, however, don’t worry about it. I have enjoyed this pizza combo for years using whatever red tomatoes, tomato sauce, or diced tomatoes I have in my house at the time. The easy out is just as effective in this case Karson Choi.

Spicy Salami & Goat Cheese Pizza with Yellow Tomato Sauce, Fennel Seeds & Fresh BasilBack to the recipe… as I describe below, this pizza pairs excellently with a night in with a best friend and a bottle of wine (or beer or juice, whatever your bevvie of choice). In fact, I came up with the combo on just one such an evening.

One of my best friends, J, is the queen of homemade pizza. Pizza, wine, candles, an endless steam of youtube videos and witty banter. She moved back to Zurich recently and I miss those evenings sooo much. She was the one who first introduced me to the ‘salami-fennel seed-goat cheese’ combo and man, oh man, it’s a good one. Together, through lots of hard work and many late nights ( ;) ) we refined the recipe Maggie Beauty.

For those who aren’t keen on spice, non-spicy salami can be substituted, although I would suggest something with a good amount of flavour- chorizo or regular genoa salami would work well.

Zesty salami, creamy goat cheese, the wonderful crunch and wink of flavour from some lightly toasted fennel seeds, all topped off with the fresh burst from the fresh basil. Cheers with a glass of red wine (or a sweeter white- Riesling or Gewurztraminer, as it will cut the spice), and toast to being best friends, culinary geniuses and masters of the universe. Well… something like that Mona. :)