Here's a killer pizza inspired by a legendary song you may not even know--but you're gonna wanna.

“Green Onions” was never supposed to be an international hit. It wasn’t even a song. It was just a thing that happened.
 
A little like the pizza that’s about to follow.
 
Of course you might be wondering, “’Green Onions’? The song? Where does pizza fit THAT?”
 
Or you might be clueless, which is fine. In the information age, we are saturated with info—and music is just more water for a sponge that is already beyond full.
 
But you do need to know that at the bottom of this rabbit hole, there’s a really good pizza that you can make yourself. And the musical ride will have been worth it.

As you know, Free The Pizza is not a music site, despite the fact that this happy little harangue represents two music posts in three weeks.
 
Like “Green Onions,” it’s just a lucky accident. Or an unlucky one, depending on how you look at it. There was a death in the family.
 
Last Thursday, I woke to learn that the famous guitarist, Steve Cropper had died.
 
I’m guessing most people probably don’t know who he was.
 
Nonetheless, he had an enthusiastic, worldwide fan base. Notes of his passing were all over social media.
 
My first thought was “Green Onions” is such a great song.
 
 
And (being who I am), I also thought “Green Onions” could also be a great tribute pizza.
 
The late Steve Cropper co-wrote the song and recorded it with Booker T. & the MGs. They had improvised it in the studio as they were killing time, waiting for a singer to show up.
 
When the band was done messing around, the engineer said, “You guys wanna hear this?”
 
They said, “You rolled tape?”
 
If you don’t know the song by name, you will recognize it by its pulsing bass line, and Booker T. Jones’ fluttering Hammond B3 organ that is the song’s signature, all of it punctuated by Steve Cropper‘s Telecaster guitar riffs that pop in like the occasional slice of musical pepperoni.
 
 
The groove is hypnotic and driving, and the song has become iconic.
 
Released in 1962, "Green Onions" helped cement the group's place in music history as one of the legendary studio bands, with one of the most covered songs in the world.
 
If, like so many people I know, you can’t recall this song, here’s a link to the original Stax recording featuring Steve Cropper on guitar. 
 
Anyway, the song is significant for several reasons.
 
Besides the global popularity and cross-generational appeal, it’s a very American symbol. It showcased an integrated band in the Jim-Crow South. It became one of the most popular songs in the history of soul music. It was a crossover hit on several charts. It was an international success. It has charted several times in the decades since it was recorded. It has won awards around the world.
 
It has been called “a powerful statement against segregation.”
 
 
Recently, I was in Brooklyn to interview Scott Weiner for our crazy little pizza movie.
 
In Scott’s living room is an electric organ.
 
My first question was, “Can you play ‘Green Onions’?”
 
He laughed.
 He says seems he can’t play anything until he fixes the organ first. It is apparently a cast-off that he inherited. (And if you’re a geek, no it’s not a Hammond B3 and there is no Leslie. Sorry.)

ABOVE: The Green Onions pizza in all its scallion-addled, bacon-fueled glory. 
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Like the song that inspired it, this namesake pizza is born of improvisation.
 
The riffs came naturally. It seemed like a no-brainer. It is also seasonally inappropriate, as this is the time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s when everything is brown and dying instead of coming up sprouts like green onions in springtime.
 
So what?
 
This is important. Symbolic, even. 
 
My only demand for this pizza was lots of green onions. It’s a green onions-forward pizza. But what else would go on it?
 
That seemed easy.
 
 
There are halved grape tomatoes and chopped bacon.
 
Let’s call them the backing musicians.
 
The green onions are the star.
 
For cheese, a combination of fresh and aged (AKA low-moisture) mozzarella. I really like the way those two tastes and textures combine, creating a more complex and creamy eating experience.
 
The problem child here is the moisture. Will it behave?
 
This is going to be a pan pizza, which can be forgiving when it comes to a heavy load of wet toppings. Still, it’s a gamble. What will happen?
 
Remember, we here at Free The Pizza do these things so you don’t have to.
 
 
Anyway, I made this pizza and—despite the potential challenges—it was delightful.
 
That’s due in part to the fact that I was reckless in my brazen use of the green onions.
 
The grape tomatoes were big enough that I quartered them instead of merely halving them.
 
Between the onions and the tomatoes and the fresh mozzarella, I knew we needed to bake accordingly. That meant several extra minutes on a lower rack, then three additional minutes on an upper rack with the broiler on high.
 
It was not a wet pizza. It worked out well.
 
For a guy who preaches pizza with purpose and intent but doesn’t always practice it as well as he should, I’m impressed with myself.
 
Besides getting it right the first time, I’ve made three more of these.

This pizza is a win. A chart topper, even. At least in my kitchen. 
 
 
I recommend making this pizza as a pan pizza.
 
If you want to make it as a traditional on-the-deck pizza, that’s up to you. I believe the topping load is a bit much for that. I recommend minimizing the high-moisture toppings accordingly.
 
If you’d like the recipe for the pan pizza dough I used, click here. (This is the recipe from my forthcoming book, The Lazy Way to Pizza. It’s a simple no-knead dough that requires about 5 minutes to make--but many hours to rise and ferment.)
 
The recipe calls for sage oil. I had a lot of sage leftover from Thanksgiving. It’s easy to make. I chop up the leaves, put it into olive oil with the whole stems, warm it gently for a few minutes, then let it sit. The longer it sits, the more flavor it develops. Hours will work. Days are better. Strain out the solids before using.

RECIPE: The Green Onions Tribute Pizza

​(To download this recipe as a PDF, click here.) 

Ingredients
 
360 grams (12.75 oz) Dough for a 12-inch round pan pizza (If you don't have one, try this one.)

 110 g (4 oz) Fresh mozzarella, pinched into 3/4-inch chunks           
 
125 g (4.5 oz) Aged (low-moisture) mozzarella, cut into half-inch cubes                                              

90 g (3 oz) Grape tomatoes, halved (quartered if very big)

4 strips Bacon, cooked almost crisp
 
2 TBSP Sage oil (simple recipe available here)
 
100g (3.5 oz) Whole green onions or scallions, chopped
 
20g (1oz) Pecorino Romano, shredded fine

Freshly ground black pepper for garnish

​
DIRECTIONS 

​Press the oiled dough into an oiled pan following your normal procedure or the one found here with my no-knead recipe.

​Top the pizza with the shredded Romano cheese.​

Next, add the aged mozzarella.

​Then add the fresh mozzarella.

​Place the grape tomatoes strategically around the pan.

Scatter the green onions all around the top. 

​Drizzle the herb oil around the pizza, then scatter the bacon on top of it all.

​Bake in the bottom third of the oven for 15 minutes, rotating halfway through. Move to top rack and finish under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes, rotating it 180 degrees after the first minute.

​Remove from pan to a cooling rack, allowing the pizza to set. (Be careful. The cheese will be molten and slides easily.) Grind some black pepper all over the top of the pizza for that peppery pop. 

​Slice, eat and enjoy!

To download this recipe as a PDF, click here.

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