Spinach, Caramelized Onion And Blue Cheese Pizza

Ingredients:

• 2 medium onions, sliced thin and evenly
• 1 glove garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 cup blue cheese
• 2 cups frozen spinach
• 2 Tbs pine nuts
• 1 pizza crust

Equipment:

• Pizza peel
• Pizza stone

Directions:

1. Place a pizza stone on the lowest rack in your oven and preheat the oven to 500 degrees, or higher if it can do it.
2. Start cooking the onions over a low medium heat in a non-stick pan with a bit of olive oil. Add in the garlic, thyme and oregano. You want the onions to slowly cook until they become soft and start to turn tan.
3. Meanwhile cook the spinach with a bit of olive oil and a little salt until it is tender.
4. Place your shaped pizza crust on a peel dusted with cornmeal or flour.
5. Once the onions are done, spread them on the pizza crust. Add the spinach on top and then the blue cheese. Sprinkle the pine nuts on top.
6. Once the oven has preheated, slide the pizza off the peel and onto the stone.
7. Cook until the crust has browned and the cheese looks melty.

Crispy Pizza Dough

The trick to this dough is using a hot oven and lower protein flour. The hot oven & pizza crisp the crust while still keeping the interior tender.

Cook’s Illustrated

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 cup water (8 ounces), room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (8 3/4 ounces), plus extra for dusting work surface and peel
• 1 cup cake flour (4 ounces)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar

Equipment:

• Pizza Stone
• Pizza Peel

Directions:

1. Mix everything together and then dump everything onto a well floured surface and knead. Dust with more flour if it becomes sticky
2. If you are making the pizzas later you can refrigerate the dough for about a day or so.
3. Adjust oven rack to lowest position, set pizza stone on oven rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees.
4. Divide dough in half and shape into smooth, tight balls. Place on floured counter or baking sheet, spacing them at least 3 inches apart.
5. Cover with some oiled plastic wrap or a towel.
6. When dough balls have doubled in size, dust dough liberally with flour and transfer balls to well-floured work surface. Press one ball into 8-inch disk. Pick up the disk by the edge and and slowly rotate, moving around the edge. This should allow the pizza to stretch under its own weight. Continue until it is about 12″.
7. Dust a pizza peel or piece of cardboard with corn meal or flour, then transfer dough to peel.