homemade pizza with caramelized onions, blue cheese, and spring greens.

May 16, 2013

springpizza7067
This is a sort-of recipe, but mostly it’s a plea for you to whip out your pizza stone (or cookie tray), fire up your oven, and get to baking yourself homemade pizzas before the summer temperature rises and the thought of voluntarily making your apartment warmer sends you running.

I had the craving for pizza last night at 6:30 pm, so I did what any reasonable person would do and headed to my local pizzeria for pre-made dough. Next stop, the grocery store for a vidalia onion. And homeward to find the last nubbin of Point Reyes blue cheese and two bags full of greens: pea shoots and arugula.

Here’s what happened next:
onions for caramelizing I sliced up my onion, added it to my cast iron skillet with plenty of olive oil and let the pieces cook down and caramelize for the better part of 45 minutes. In the meantime, my oven slowly cranked its way up to 500 degrees. Somewhere in there, I poured myself a glass of a red wine. Not necessary to the process, but helpful. blue cheese Next, I washed and spun dry several large handfulls of pea shoots and arugula and crumbled my blue cheese into dime-sized pieces. caramelized onions and blue cheese When the onions were good and browned, I covered a cutting board with cornmeal, stretched my pizza dough into a circle and scattered onions and dots of blue cheese across the dough. I drizzled the whole thing with olive oil and slid the dough onto my preheated pizza stone. After 10 minutes, I opened the oven and mounded the whole thing with more arugula and pea shoots than really looked reasonable. This is the best measure I have for you: pile on lots of greens, then add more. Drizzled again with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt, I slid the pie back into the oven for another two minutes. pizza topped with spring greens The pizza was ready when the greens had wilted down to a beautiful jewel-toned mess.

And there you have it: a springtime pizza that almost has me wishing this cool spring would last just a little bit longer.

Now your turn. What are your favorite springtime pizza toppings?

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28 Comments

  • Reply Annabel Vita May 16, 2013 at 1:34 pm

    Smoked salmon and spinach – cream cheese optional but lovely.

    4
  • Reply lisaathome May 16, 2013 at 1:45 pm

    That looks fabulous!

    Prosciutto, pear and goat cheese for me

    3
  • Reply thedeadiaries May 16, 2013 at 1:56 pm

    Yesterday was the first day for picking up our CSA share and I brought home an assortment of green leaves. I ended up making some dough and layered the top with pesto, spinach, arugula,and an assortment of shredded cheeses. It was delish:)

    4
    • Reply Erin May 16, 2013 at 4:03 pm

      sounds wonderful!

      4
  • Reply Natalie May 16, 2013 at 2:25 pm

    Roasted red peppers, caramelized onions, goat cheese, red pepper flakes, and honey. I cook mine in a cast iron skillet. Pair it with a Weiss Bier.

    4
  • Reply Ashley Elizabeth May 16, 2013 at 2:31 pm

    Looks delicious! I was thinking of making homemade pizza for dinner tonight! Our favorite is pizza Margherita. šŸ™‚

    4
  • Reply Marie Matter May 16, 2013 at 2:52 pm

    Making pizza at home is the best, and these toppings are so perfect!

    4
  • Reply simply blythe May 16, 2013 at 3:05 pm

    love…we are making pizza friday night.
    i suggested throwing the pizza stone on the grill, so as to keep our kitchen a little cooler.
    we like pesto, asparagus, and goat cheese.

    4
    • Reply Erin May 16, 2013 at 4:03 pm

      We've actually made pizza right on the grill before, no stone needed! Now that there are grills at the park down the street, we're thinking of trying it out again this summer!

      3
  • Reply L May 16, 2013 at 3:45 pm

    Erin, we just moved to Cobble Hill, any recs on a good pizza place to grab dough?

    3
    • Reply Erin May 16, 2013 at 4:01 pm

      I'm not sure if they sell their dough, but South Brooklyn Pizza has really, really good dough!

      3
  • Reply TL May 16, 2013 at 3:57 pm

    you didn't need to use a pre-heated pizza stone? last time we didn't heat the stone and the dough was super mushy. but then it's nearly impossible to spread dough on a hot stone AND add toppings. we've been in a pickle about it..help!

    3
    • Reply Erin May 16, 2013 at 4:00 pm

      No, we *did* use a preheated stone! I put the stone in at the same time that I turned on the oven! We spread the dough on our cutting board, which we covered corn meal to help making sliding it onto the hot stone easier!

      3
  • Reply Nicole May 16, 2013 at 4:00 pm

    That looks so delicious Erin! I had a pizza craving the other day as well and decided to try out a cauliflower crust. Way more delicious than I ever expected! Some arugula and prosciutto is a fav of mine šŸ™‚

    3
    • Reply Erin May 16, 2013 at 4:02 pm

      wow! I've never heard of a cauliflower crust! Intriguing!

      3
  • Reply Chase @ The Smell of Summer May 16, 2013 at 4:28 pm

    Looks so yummy! Who doesn't love a good pizza?

    Chase Miller
    The Smell of Summer – A Boutique Lifestyle Blog

    3
  • Reply lauren May 16, 2013 at 5:38 pm

    i've always wondered how the transaction with a local pizzeria works. how much do they charge you? how much do they give you? is there a secret password to ask for it? ("i'd like a Patient Zero, to go.")

    we've been getting into the pizza-at-home spirit with a cast-iron grill pan and sullivan street bakery's dough recipe (or, okay, a lump from whole foods if i forget to plan). my favorite pie thus far has been san marzano tomato sauce, pineapple, slivered jalapenos, onions, and garlic; we've also had great luck with julienned habaneros.

    3
    • Reply Erin May 16, 2013 at 7:52 pm

      OMG. that combination sounds amazing. must. make.

      As for the obtaining the real-deal pizzeria dough, there's no special handshake. i just waltz in, ask if they have dough for sale, and 9 times out of 10, leave with a bag full o' the good stuff. Prices vary a bit: I've paid as little as $2 and as much as $4 and it's usually enough to make one huge pie (pizzeria-sized) or many littler ones.

      3
  • Reply clairemaxwell May 16, 2013 at 5:57 pm

    Oh wow. I'm so going to make this at the weekend. Looks dreamy.

    3
  • Reply Cara of Big Girls, Small Kitchen May 16, 2013 at 6:53 pm

    Love this! And good point to do this before the weather gets hot…as it already sort of is today.

    3
    • Reply Erin May 16, 2013 at 7:53 pm

      Seriously! Hot town summer in the city!

      3
  • Reply Milynn {Love + Whimsy} May 16, 2013 at 8:39 pm

    I love making homemade pizza šŸ™‚ This looks so good, I'll have to try adding feta to my pizza instead of the ole mozz variation.

    3
  • Reply Anonymous May 16, 2013 at 8:57 pm

    I don't know why, but this post made me think of the scene in the movie Christmas in Connecticut where the Barbara Stanwyck character is a food columnist living in a tiny NYC apartment: Where am I gonna get a farm? I haven't even got a window box!

    3
    • Reply Erin May 16, 2013 at 8:59 pm

      Ha! I love it! (Happily, I've got two)!

      3
  • Reply catie May 16, 2013 at 10:50 pm

    i need to do this!
    your greens make it look so darn good ā™„

    3
  • Reply susan May 17, 2013 at 12:29 pm

    Would you believe I've never made homemade pizza?! Must remedy that. Pronto.

    3
  • Reply Mr. Jazz May 18, 2013 at 8:29 pm

    My pizzeria (in Montreal) has been selling me their dough for $2 (medium, yields a 12 inch pie). Love your idea of pulling it out after 10 mins, adding greens and putting it back in for another 2. My fave: BBQ'd chicken (leftover from the weekend BBQ), onions, roasted peppers, arugula, parmesan, aged cheddar and fresh mozzarella (the ball in water kind). Beforehand, I put olive oil all over the dough and sprinkle granulated garlic & oregano. Heat the stone for 1/2 hour at 500-550. Cornmeal on a wooden pizza peel and the pizza slips right unto the stone. Next time, I<m absolutely doing your caramelized onions thing. Thanks šŸ™‚

    4
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