Winter Pizza: FREE Virtual Cooking Class
Check our Events Calendar for your next online cooking class!
Pear and Blue Cheese Pizza with Caramelized Onion
Yield: makes 2 large pizzas
Pizza Dough, see recipe
all-purpose flour, as needed
extra-virgin olive oil, as needed
corn meal, as needed
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more as needed
1 cup favorite blue cheese, prefer Gorgonzola
3 Bosc or Anjou pears, cored and sliced thinly
3 large onions, sliced thinly
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. If using a pizza stone, place in a cold oven and preheat. Slice onion in half through the root. Thinly slice the onion ¼"–⅛" thick without including the root. You may also use a mandolin. Heat butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet or fry pan over medium until melted and sizzling. Add the onions, making sure they are spread out over the bottom of the pan. Cook, stirring, until onions are soft and starting to turn translucent, 1–2 minutes. Season with a pinch of salt. (If using a smaller pan, start by adding just a couple of large handfuls to the pan to start adding more as they cook.) Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to cook onions, stirring every few minutes to prevent them from sticking and coloring too much in any one place, golden brown, about 25-35 minutes. If the onions start to stick to the pan, add a little bit of water and scrape with a spoon. Once golden, remove from the pan and set aside until ready to use.
Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, bring heavy cream to a boil and reduce by half, constantly watching. Once reduced, add Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and set aside
Transfer the prepared dough (see recipe) to cornmeal dusted pizza peel or flat baking sheet. You may also keep pizza on the parchment sheet. If using a flat pizza pan drizzle with a little olive oil and place pizza dough directly on the pan. Spoon and spread the cream sauce onto the pizza dough leaving 1/2 inch border around the sides of pizza. Next, evenly spread sliced pears around pizza and top with caramelized onions. Add blue cheese evenly over the onions and finish the pizza by drizzling olive oil around the 1/2 inch border of dough. Repeat with remaining dough.
Place the pizza in the oven directly on the stone or oven rack. Bake until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted, about 12-15 minutes. Let the pizza cool about 5 minutes before slicing into pieces with a pizza cutter. Garnish with more grated Parmesan cheese and additional black pepper, if desired.
Chef Note: Dough, caramelized onions, and Parmesan sauce can be made the day before. Keep in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before proceeding with the recipe. Keep leftover in the refrigerator. Extra caramelized onions and pizza dough may be frozen up to 3 months.
Pizza Dough
Yield: about 2 large pizzas or 4 individual, 20 oz of dough
2 teaspoons yeast (one ¼ oz envelopes), active or instant
1 cup warm water (105 to 115 °F), divided
2 1/2 to 3 cups + 1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Extra-virgin olive oil, for bowl
Place yeast, 1 tbsp flour, and ¼ cup of warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Stir to combine and let stand until bubble appear, about 5 minutes. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds and add 1 1/2 cups flour, half the water, and the salt until combined. With mixer still running on low speed, add the additional 1 cups of flour and the rest of the water. Mix for 1 minute to combine. Increase speed to medium and process until dough forms a slightly sticky ball, about 1 to 2 minutes. If ball does not form, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, and continue mixing until ball forms. Coat a large mixing bowl with a thin film of olive oil. Transfer dough ball to prepared mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rest until doubled in volume, about 1-1/2 to 2 hours or cold-proof in the fridge for 24 hours.
Press dough gently to remove air bubbles and turn out on a lightly floured work surface. Using a bench scraper, divide dough into 2 (or 4) equal pieces. Roll each piece into a tight ball, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and allow dough to rest for 15 minutes.
Dust work surface with flour. Flatten one dough ball to a thickness of 1/2 inch and roll to desired thickness (about 5” or 10” diameter), keeping the remaining dough covered. Transfer to a parchment paper-lined rimmed baking sheet and cover with another piece of parchment. Continue rolling the second dough ball and repeat the process, separating the layers of rolled dough with additional sheets of parchment as needed. Cover stack of dough rounds with plastic wrap and set aside until ready to use.
Recipe inspired by Chef Chris Bianco
To Do Before Class (if cooking with me):
Prepare pizza dough 2 hours before class (see recipe), optional
Slice onions and start caramelizing (see recipe, first paragraph), optional
Preheat oven to 450*F
Grate parmesan cheese, if needed
Measure ingredients and have ready
Have tools and equipment within reach
Review recipes and have questions ready!
Equipment:
mandolin, optional
chef’s knife
cutting board
large skillet or fry pan
melon baller, optional
medium saucepan
whisk
assorted cooking spoons
assorted mixing and prep bowls
oven
pizza peel or rimless baking sheet, optional
pizza pan, pizza screen, baking sheet, or pizza stone
pizza cutter, optional
rolling pin, optional
stand mixer with dough hook, optional
Shopping List:
4 ounces extra-virgin olive oil
1 ounce corn meal, optional
8 ounces heavy cream
2 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated or block
4 ounces favorite blue cheese, prefer Gorgonzola
3 Bosc or Anjou pears
3 large onions
1/2-ounce unsalted butter
2 teaspoons yeast (one ¼ oz envelopes), active or instant
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste