The Risk You Might Be Taking With Homemade Pizza Toppings

It's easy to think of making pizza at home as a simple, three-step process: First you prepare and roll your dough, then throw the toppings on there, and put it in the oven. Easy.

Unfortunately, depending on what toppings you're using, you need to add an extra step or run the risk of food poisoning, or at the very least, a somewhat unpleasant eating experience. Specifically, some toppings need to be cooked before you put them on a pizza. Meats are the biggest risk here — although it depends on which ones you're using. Most smoked or cured meats like ham, pepperoni, and some types of sausage can be put directly on pizza. However, the cooking time for pizza generally isn't long enough to cook raw meat — so if you're using ingredients like raw chicken or ground meat, it's essential to cook them first. The method is up to you — fry, roast, grill, or whatever else, just make sure they're cooked through to the safe temperature of 140 to 165 degrees Fahrenheit (the exact temperature will depend on the type of meat) to avoid making a food safety mistake. Otherwise, you may end up biting into raw meat and all the risks like salmonella that come with it. 

If you're unsure about what meats to pre-cook, think of it this way: The meat should be in an edible form before you put it on the pizza. So, you can eat a slice of salami without cooking it, but you wouldn't do the same with chicken (despite being cured, bacon should also be cooked before putting it on pizza).

There are other toppings that you'll probably want to pre-cook, although it's not a food safety issue if you skip this step. A number of vegetables fit into this category: mushrooms, zucchini, peppers, broccoli rabe, and root vegetables like sweet potato or potato. A lot of vegetables are high in water, so if you put them on pizza raw, they'll release that water onto the pie and potentially make it a soggy mess, especially if your oven isn't hot enough. This is a common pizza mistake that'll leave you with a soggy dough. Roasting or sauteing them in advance will get rid of some of that water and save your pizza from turning soupy.

There's also a flavor reason to do this — some vegetables like potatoes or broccoli won't have enough time to cook through if they're put on pizza raw, and they're not particularly pleasant to eat half-cooked. With peppers and mushrooms this is less of a concern, but cooking them (and seasoning them while you do it) can add extra flavor. In some cases like onions, it can be a matter of preference — a lot of recipes recommend caramelizing onions in a pan for pizza, but some folks may be okay with the sharper taste of raw ones on their pie. Not all veggies need cooking, though — leafy greens like arugula or spinach can go straight on top.