Fall Flavors: Chanterelle, Leek and Speck Pizza

I'm working on a project right now that asked me to share a signature dish.  I had a a big ole moment of pause about this, because I feel like I'm always moving on to new things and not settling on any one signature.  Zack had no such hesitation however.  Pizza!  Pizza!  And you know, he's right.  Not any particular pizza, but just really good pizza, using whatever is currently inspiring.  Pizza is a palette for so many possibilities.  Right now, chanterelles are in season.  Don't miss the opportunity to cook with this rich early mushroom while you can!!  I made this pizza the other day with leftover ingredients from a day of recipe testing and then recreated it for my project.  It really is so absolutely delicious that I had to share!

Chanterelle, Leek and Speck Pizza

1 ball of pizza dough, rested and risen.
1/2 cup ricotta (homemade if you have 10 extra minutes - its so amazing)
2 tablespoons butter
8 ounces chanterelle mushrooms, brushed clean and roughly chopped
1/3 cup thinly sliced leek rounds, the white or pale green part only
4 very thin slices of speck (a smoked cousin of prosciutto)
5 fresh chives, chopped in 1 inch pieces
parmesan
extra virgin olive oil
fresh cracked black pepper

An hour before dinner, place an oven rack on the top rungs of your oven.  If you have a pizza stone, place it there.  Preheat your oven to 475 degrees.

Thirty minutes before dinner, add butter and a drizzle of olive oil to a skillet over medium high heat. Add your chopped mushrooms, a generous pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper and allow to cook for ten minutes, stirring only once or twice.  You want nice browned mushrooms, so let them sit and don't fuss with them too much.

Meanwhile, with nice floured hands, form your pizza dough into a round, stretching or rolling it to desired thinness.  Dust a pizza peel with corn meal and place your dough on the peel.  Spread with ricotta, add leeks and cooked chanterelles.  Grind some fresh pepper over and drizzle olive oil.

Slide your pizza onto the pizza stone with a quick motion.  If you've used plenty of corn meal it will slide right off onto the hot stone.  Alternatively, you could bake this on a baking sheet.

Bake for 5-7 minutes at 475 degrees.  Then turn your broiler on high and broil for 2 minutes, then using tongs or hands with oven mitts, rotate your pizza front to back and broil for another 1 minute.  Remove from oven when its got some nice dark color.

Finish immediately with the thin slices of speck, finely grated parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil. Sprinkle with fresh chives.  Serve hot or at room temperature.