Hot Smoked Salmon Pizza: Babylon

Hello and welcome to Pizza and a Movie on Djalali Cooks. Today’s pizza makes a great brunch pizza. With hot smoked salmon and herbed Boursin cheese, we have shallots, capers and mozzarella – finished with fresh dill. This is a very pretty pizza, with lovely spring-like colors and fresh savory flavor. Hot smoked salmon is smoked at a higher temperature than cold smoked, resulting in a different texture and a much smokier flavor. If you can’t find hot smoked salmon you can substitute with lox or other smoked fish. Smoked trout would be amazing! Let’s do it!

Preheat the oven with a pizza stone or steel to 425 degrees F. On a lightly floured pizza peel, roll, spin or stretch your dough out to about 12-inches round.

Two Step Toppings

Going into the oven we will top the dough with mozzarella, capers and the shallot slices. The base will be mozzarella, so start with grated low moisture mozzarella. I use Polly-O or Galbani low moisture mozz, which is pretty soft. While it is grate-able, I find it easier to pull it apart into thin strips, like string cheese. Use enough cheese to get good coverage, leaving about 1/2-inch for the crust.

Then top with capers and shallot slices. We are ready for the oven!

Bake the pizza on the stone or steel for about 15 minutes, just until the crust is puffed and golden; the cheese is melted and begins to get spotty brown.

Finishing Touches

When it comes out, drizzle olive oil over the crust. Then use your hands to break up the Boursin and scatter little chunks of Boursin over the pizza.

Next, use your hands to break up the hot smoked salmon into small, bite-size pieces and scatter the hot smoked salmon over the pizza. Finally, top with fresh dill fronds and a drizzle of olive oil.

Hot Smoked Salmon Pizza

And that’s it! Slice and serve. As I mentioned at the top, if you love bagels with smoked salmon and cream cheese, this is such a great pizza for you. It’s great any time of day, but it really does scream “Brunch Pizza” to me. Hot smoked salmon often has seasoning of some kind. The one I am using here, from Trader Joe’s has mustard seeds and lots of black pepper, so it is very flavorful and savory. The shallots add a mellow onion bite, the capers add their pop of briny flavor and the herb and garlic Boursin is creamy and rich. A great combo!

Movie Night: Babylon

We have our Hot Smoked Salmon Pizza ready, so let’s get to the movie. This week, I watched the movie Babylon, which came out in 2022. Despite its ensemble cast (including Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie), I don’t remember seeing a ton of press when this movie came out. However, I do love Brad Pitt and I am a sucker for movies set in the 1920’s. This movie takes place in Hollywood, during the transition from silent films to sound films.

Like Damien Chazelle’s other Hollywood film, La La Land, Babylon is a lavish portrait of the silver screen. Stars rise and fall, and a behind-the-curtain look at movie-making during a time when movies themselves were transforming from silent to sound-filled. Reviews have called this film a cynical antidote to the sentimental version of Hollywood we saw in La La Land. While I agree with a bit of that viewpoint, I also just really enjoyed watching this movie for the gorgeous production of it. And Brad Pitt is a gem. Babylon is available to watch with a subscription to Amazon Prime and YouTube, it’s available to rent on Vudu, Google Play and Redbox.

Key Ingredient – Hot Smoked Salmon

Print Recipe

Hot Smoked Salmon Pizza

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Dinner, Main Course, Brunch – American/Italian

By Kelly Djalali – Serves: 2-4

Prep Time: 10 Minutes – Cooking Time: 15-20 Minutes – Total Time: ~30 Minutes

The Best Brunch dish might just this pizza; with hot smoked salmon, Boursin Cheese, capers, shallots and dill on a mozzarella base.

Ingredients

• 1 Prepared Pizza Dough
• Low Moisture Mozzarella Cheese
• Capers
• 1 Shallot, sliced thin
• Herb and Garlic Boursin Cheese
• Hot Smoked Salmon, sub lox or other smoked fish
• Fresh Dill Fronds
• Olive Oil

Instructions

1

Preheat the oven with a pizza stone or steel to 425 degrees F. On a lightly floured pizza peel, roll, spin or stretch your dough out to about 12-inches round.

2

Going into the oven we will top the dough with mozzarella, capers and the shallot slices. The base will be mozzarella, so start with grated low moisture mozzarella.

3

Use enough cheese to get good coverage, leaving about 1/2-inch for the crust.

4

Then top with capers and shallot slices. We are ready for the oven!

5

Bake the pizza on the stone or steel for about 15 minutes, just until the crust is puffed and golden; the cheese is melted and begins to get spotty brown.

6

When it comes out, drizzle olive oil over the crust. Then use your hands to break up the Boursin and scatter little chunks of Boursin over the pizza.

7

Next, use your hands to break up the hot smoked salmon into small, bite-size pieces and scatter the hot smoked salmon over the pizza. Finally, top with fresh dill fronds and a drizzle of olive oil.

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