I haven’t posted a recipe in a while, and I actually have another one to share with you, once I get the recipe all typed up.
For some reason last week, I got a hankering for this. I’ve never cooked caramelized onions before (I know, its super simple) and I’ve never actually purchased goat cheese. So I was taking a shot in the dark, and luckily we were having friends over for pizza and there would be alternative pizza toppings if mine sucked.
I usually make my own dough, very loosely using a Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook recipe. (You know, the red and white checkered one. The original recipe is Onion and Olive Foccacia.)
Pizza Crust Dough
Ingredients:
3 1/4 to 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 package active dried yeast
1 1/4 cup warm water (120-130 degrees)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
generous sprinkle of dried italian herbs (you could use any herbs you like)
Directions:
1. In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 1/4 cup of flour and the yeast. Add the warm water, the olive oil, herbs and 1 teaspoon salt to the dry mixture. Beat with an electric mixer on low or medium for 30 seconds. (I’m usually too lazy to get the mixer out so I just stir really well by hand.) Beat on high for 3 minutes. Stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can
2. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a stiff dough that is smooth and elastic, 8-10 minutes. (You may find that you need to use a little extra flour.)
3. Shape dough in a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size. Punch down, and divide in two, shaping each portion into a ball. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. (If you are lazy like me, or in a hurry, you can skip the rising step, and everything will still turn out ok.)
4. Divide each ball into 4 pieces. On a lightly greased cookie sheet (better yet, cover the cookie sheet with foil first for easy clean up) press out one piece into a circle shape, or whatever shape your want your pizza crusts to be. You can press it as thin or thick as you’d like. Poke a few times with a fork to keep the dough from puffing up in the oven.
5. Bake each crust at 400 degrees for about 8-10 minutes. I usually cook all the crusts in advance so they are ready for the toppings when people come over. Sort of like Boboli crusts, but homemade.
Carmelized Onions
Ingredients:
2 medium yellow onions
pinch salt
pinch sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
Directions:
1. Remove the skin and outer layer of the onion. Cut off ends and slice onions in half. Then cut onion into thin, half rings. See this tutorial if you need help.
2. Heat up olive oil to medium high heat until it begins to ripple. Then add the onions, stirring until they are coated with the oil. Add the salt and sugar and stir.
3. Continue to let onions cook, occasionally stirring onions around to cook evenly. You can let them get as dark brown as you’d like then remove them from the heat.
Now it’s time to put it all together!
Lightly coat a pizza crust with olive oil. I have a Misto that works really well for this. Top with generous amounts of goat cheese. (I chose to blob little pieces all over so I’d get goat cheese in each bite.) Then add a generous amount of onions on top of the goat cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for about 8 minutes. The goat cheese will get warm but won’t look melty or anything, trust me it’s still good this way. You could cook it a little longer if you want a crispier crust.
So here’s the finished product.
It was so good, I made it again a couple nights later. Mmmm, I’m actually sorta still thinking about it now.
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