Fiddlehead Pizza

Here’s a pizza for the brief, magical fiddlehead season. Instead of a wheat dough, the crust is built from puréed fiddleheads, bound with egg, Parmesan, mozzarella, and just a few tablespoons of flour into a firm, frittata-like base.

That makes it a grain-light, vegetable-forward pizza, something genuinely different to do with these coiled spring fern shoots.

One important note: fiddleheads must be cooked thoroughly before eating, since raw or undercooked ones can make you ill. They’re cooked and puréed for the crust here, and the whole ones on top should be cooked too.

From there it’s pizza as usual: spread the herbed tomato sauce over the baked-together base, scatter on bacon and cheese, and arrange whole fiddleheads on top before a final bake. The result is earthy, cheesy, and unmistakably spring.

Kitchen Tips

• Cook the fiddleheads thoroughly before using; raw or undercooked ones can cause illness.
• The egg and cheese bind the crust, so spread it evenly in the pan for a firm base.
• Clean fiddleheads well, rubbing off the papery brown skins, before cooking.
• Bake until the crust is set and the cheese on top is melted and bubbly.

Variations

• Swap bacon for sautéed mushrooms or sausage.
• Use the fiddlehead crust as a base for other toppings, like pesto and tomato.
• No fiddleheads? Try the same crust technique with cooked, well-drained spinach or broccoli.