{pear and gorgonzola pizza with caramelized onion, roasted garlic, and balsamic}

{pear and gorgonzola pizza with caramelized onion, roasted garlic and

balsamic}

makes one medium neapolitan pizza

*recipe by me.

ingredients

1 small-med vidalia onion, thinly sliced

3,4 cloves roasted garlic

pizza dough {i use my artisan bread dough as neapolitan pizza dough}

2 pears (organic is best) slice thinly right before arranging on pizza

good balsamic vinegar to taste (around 1 Tablespoon)

gorgonzola or blue cheese crumbled to taste

salt and cracked pepper

{roasting garlic}

preheat oven to 350 degrees

cut top 1/4 inch off head of garlic, or simply cut the bulb in half . place cut side down in baking dish with olive oil and cover tightly with foil {wrapping the cloves in foil with olive oil also works well.} bake for about an hour or until skins are golden brown and cloves are tender. cool and squeeze cloves out of their skins, set aside. you will only be needing a few cloves of roasted garlic for this recipe, so you can roast just a few if you want. however, it is nice to have roasted garlic on hand, and i often roast a whole bulb at a time. you can set leftover garlic aside to make roasted butternut squash and garlic soup {recipe coming next}, or simply spread it on good crusty bread as an appetizer.

while the garlic is roasting, heat 2-3 tablespoons olive oil on the stove top and add thinly sliced onion. cook over medium heat, stirring often for around 10 minutes, add a heavy pinch of salt and pepper to taste, lower heat and continue cooking for another 5 minutes or so, or until onions are golden and sweet.

{both of of the above can be done ahead}

once garlic is roasted. preheat your oven to 500 degrees

break off about 1/2 lb {around a softball sized ball} of dough from the artisan bread dough. you will be able to adjust this, depending on how you like your crust, or how big you want your pizza to be {if making a bigger pizza, break off grapefruit sized ball, and double toppings}.

on a floured surface, roll out dough, to desired thickness. don't be afraid to dust with flour in this process, this dough is a wet dough and can handle the flour... i also love the way it looks when it is baked and still has a dusting of flour on the crust. this particular pizza i rolled to about medium thickness, and slightly smaller than a dinner plate. but i've also rolled it very thin and once baked, it is wonderfully crisp.

here is more on rolling out the dough {neapolitan pizza dough recipe}

Flatten the dough into a 1/8-inch-thick round with your hands and a rolling pin on a wooden board. Dust with flour to keep the dough from sticking. (A little sticking can help overcome the dough’s re sis tance to stretching, though, so don’t overuse flour.) You also can let the partially rolled dough relax for a few minutes to allow further rolling. Stretching by hand may help, followed by additional rolling. Place the rolled- out dough onto a liberally cornmeal- covered pizza peel.

sprinkle a generous amount of cornmeal on a baking sheet and transfer pizza dough.

top with caramelized onion, along with the fragrant oil it was cooked in, plus a drizzle more of olive oil if needed. layer gorgonzola over the onions. arrange pears however you like and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. crumble a bit more gorgonzola over the top of the pears, and freshly cracked pepper to taste.

bake at 500 degrees, for about 10 minutes or until top is nicely browned, and crust is crisp. allow to cool on cutting board or wire rack before serving. slice and serve.

i love to serve this with a simple arugula salad and a glass of wine.

cheers,

alison