Corcoran Street Kitchen: Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Pizza

I could eat pizza all day, every day. So much so, that I need to think of alternatives to my beloved margarita pizza. I mean, pizza and I have been in a relationship for 28 years now, so as you can imagine, we need to mix things up every once in a while to keep things spicy in our relationship. Enter this Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese pizza. I am not a huge fan of raw red onions. I feel like I can taste them for the next 3 days. Not attractive. However, when you caramelize red onions (which just means saute them in a frying pan for 15 minutes), they develop a sweet, deep flavor that works perfectly with the smooth, sharp goat cheese. This pizza hits all of my taste bud sweet spots and I absolutely loved it. This is a fun dinner that is very unique and worth trying for a simple summer supper.

Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Pizza
Ingredients:
4 medium red onions
4 oz. goat cheese
2 Tbs. skim milk
1 ball pizza dough
olive oil
salt and pepper
6-7 basil leaves

1. Thinly slice the onions.

2. In 2 Tbs. olive oil, saute the onions over medium-high heat. You want them to caramelize, so you do not add salt at this point.

Allow them to cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring them around every 2-3 minutes so that they caramelize evenly. You want them to be a beautiful deep color, but you want to keep an eye on them so that they aren't burnt.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together goat cheese (it is easiest to do if your goat cheese is at room temperature) and milk with a sprinkle of salt and pepper until smooth.

4. I use store bought dough with no shame. I buy it frozen and to prepare the dough for use, I get it out of the freezer in the morning, put it in a large bowl, drizzle with olive oil, and cover with a clean kitchen towel. I leave it out on the counter all day and it is perfect when I get home from work.

One ball usually makes about 2 medium/large pizzas and I only need one for a weeknight dinner-for-2. I cut the ball in half and put the other half back into the freezer for another day.
5. Sprinkle your board lightly with flour and roll out the pizza dough as thin as you can, working it slowly into a large round.

6. To mimic a real, super hot pizza oven, I pre-heat my oven to 550 degrees and put a large, non-stick sheet pan into the oven to get hot. When the pan is good and hot, I carefully take it out of the oven and place the pizza dough right onto the pan.