Blue Cheese, Pear and Caramelized Onion Whole Wheat Pizza
Two of my husband’s absolute favorite flavors are blue cheese and pear. I designed this pizza in his honor, whipping it up for us on a Monday night and serving it along with a good white Belgian-style beer. I was planning on saving a few slices to enjoy for lunch the rest of the week, however the pizza came out so ridiculously delicious that my leftover fantasy went for the most part unrealized!
Blue Cheese, Pear and Caramelized Onion Whole Wheat Pizza
- 2 medium onions, sliced
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 1/2 tablespoon light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornmeal
- 1 package whole wheat pizza dough (At Trader Joe’s, the refrigerated pizza dough is perfectly portioned and ready to go for 99 cents)
- 5 oz goat cheese
- 1 tablespoon cream or half/half or milk (whatever you’ve got in the house)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pear, thinly sliced
- .5 lb brick of blue cheese (choose a nice brick of crumbly style blue)
- 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Get Cookin!
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Sprinkle cornmeal evenly over a pizza stone or flat-edged baking-sheet (a 14×16 cookie sheet works great). Exercising patience and care, shape the pizza dough into the desired formation and spread out atop the baking surface. Keep in mind that pizza dough is quite elastic and requires time to evenly re-distribute into a shape that isn’t just an amorphous blob.
To caramelize the onions, heat butter over medium heat in a large saute pan until melted and hot. Lower the heat and add the onions, stirring to coat them with the butter. Cover with a lid and let them sweat for 10 minutes, stirring frequently- you ultimately want them to get soft and light brown, but they will easily burn if they get too hot in the pan so watch out! When they start browning, turn the heat as low as your range will allow and mix-in the brown sugar. Cover and continue to monitor the onions and stir frequently until the onions are a deep caramel color and get pretty gooey. Off the heat and set the onions aside.
In a small bowl, mix together the goat cheese and cream or milk. With a butter knife or small spatula, gently spread this mixture over your pizza dough for your first layer of topping. Evenly top this layer with your caramelized onions. Lay out the pears in rows above the onions. Crumble the brick of blue cheese in your hands as you spread it evenly over the pears. Sprinkle the minced garlic atop the blue cheese and then top it all off by showering the Parmesan cheese all over the pizza. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, removing the pie half-way to splash the surface with the olive oil for an extra kick of crispiness.
Serve immediately or cut into slices and wrap them in tinfoil t0 refrigerate for a week or freeze for however long you’d like- they toast-up amazingly well!
Save Print
- 2 medium onions, sliced
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1½ tablespoon light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornmeal
- 1 package whole wheat pizza dough (At Trader Joe’s, the refrigerated pizza dough is perfectly portioned and ready to go for 99 cents)
- 5 oz goat cheese
- 1 tablespoon cream or half/half or milk (whatever you’ve got in the house)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pear, thinly sliced
- .5 lb brick of blue cheese (choose a nice brick of crumbly style blue)
- ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Sprinkle cornmeal evenly over a pizza stone or flat-edged baking-sheet (a 14×16 cookie sheet works great). Exercising patience and care, shape the pizza dough into the desired formation and spread out atop the baking surface. Keep in mind that pizza dough is quite elastic and requires time to evenly re-distribute into a shape that isn’t just an amorphous blob.
- To caramelize the onions, heat butter over medium heat in a large saute pan until melted and hot. Lower the heat and add the onions, stirring to coat them with the butter. Cover with a lid and let them sweat for 10 minutes, stirring frequently- you ultimately want them to get soft and light brown, but they will easily burn if they get too hot in the pan so watch out! When they start browning, turn the heat as low as your range will allow and mix-in the brown sugar. Cover and continue to monitor the onions and stir frequently until the onions are a deep caramel color and get pretty gooey. Off the heat and set the onions aside.
- In a small bowl, mix together the goat cheese and cream or milk. With a butter knife or small spatula, gently spread this mixture over your pizza dough for your first layer of topping. Evenly top this layer with your caramelized onions. Lay out the pears in rows above the onions. Crumble the brick of blue cheese in your hands as you spread it evenly over the pears. Sprinkle the minced garlic atop the blue cheese and then top it all off by showering the Parmesan cheese all over the pizza. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, removing the pie half-way to splash the surface with the olive oil for an extra kick of crispiness.
- Serve immediately or cut into slices and wrap them in tinfoil t0 refrigerate for a week or freeze for however long you’d like- they toast-up amazingly well!
The post Blue Cheese, Pear and Caramelized Onion Whole Wheat Pizza appeared first on Cooler Kitchen.
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