Blue Pizza

Background: I have a mild obsession with blue cheese. Not the dried-out flavorless crumbles that they sell for salads, but wedges of real, buttery, creamy pungent blue cheese, like gorgonzola or roquefort, or even maytag. I remember watching my parents eat blue cheese as a kid, and thinking that it was one scary cheese. I didn't know as much about food safety then as I do now, but I knew enough to know what mold looked like, and to me, that cheese did not look safe, despite my parents' reassurance that the mold was there on purpose. But once I got old enough to look past that and see what the big deal was about, it was love at first bite. I love the stuff- the smellier the better. Since we got married three years ago, Jeff and I have also developed a not-so-mild obsession with homemade pizza. It started out innocently enough- the refridgerated bags of pizza dough at Trader Joe's were only 99 cents, and who doesn't love food that's covered in melted cheese? We began having pizza about once a week, even making it on the grill in the summer. Now we're obsessed to the point where we only use homemade dough, and actually have a pizza peel and pizza stone, to obtain the best possible pie. Despite the fact that we have about a pizza per week, it's very rare that we have the same pizza twice. Our pizzas are as varied as the seasonal produce, and whatever combinations of cheeses I happen to have on hand. About a year ago though, I hit on a combination that was so good, it had to be repeated. I had a wedge of blue and some pizza dough, and decided to combine the two. I started playing the "What goes well with blue cheese?" game, throwing things on the pizza as I went. First were the red onions and spinach, followed by mushrooms and bacon. I spotted a few apples on the counter, and thought, "Apples go well with blue cheese!" Then I hesitated. Apples are fantastic with blue cheese, sure, but apples on a pizza? Then I remembered that California Pizza Kitchen has a pizza with pear on it. If they can put pear on their pizzas, why can't I put apples on mine? Hell, some people even put pineapple on their pizzas, a topping that I just cannot understand. So I threw some apple slices on there, and it turned out to be the perfect match. The sweetness of the apples is the perfect balance to the tanginess of the cheese- a great fall pizza, which is only really improved by a glass of dry white wine alongside. I've tweaked the recipe a bit since that first time- I don't put bacon on it anymore (several months ago we decided to cut our meat consumption down to one serving per week, so we rarely have bacon on hand anymore), and the mushrooms are an occasional thing...I usually walk right by the mushrooms at the grocery store without even realizing they're there...and once I think about it we're on the other side of the store and when you're shopping with a two-year-old, going all the way back is just not an option. But you're welcome to add bacon and/or mushrooms to the pizza- it's delicious either way. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that most of you don't have a pizza peel and pizza stone, so I'll write out the cookie-sheet directions, and assume that anyone with a pizza stone knows how to use it and can adapt the recipe accordingly. Enjoy!

Originally from: this one's an Ani Pennings original

Serves ~4
Approximate time, from prep to table: ~45 minutes

Ingredients:
1 T. olive oil

1 medium red onion, sliced

1 bunch of fresh spinach (about 1 lb), or a 1lb bag of baby spinach
1 apple, any variety, sliced into 1/4-inch thick slices
8 oz. fresh mozarella, torn into small pieces

2-3 oz. wedge of nice blue cheese, such as gorgonzola, crumbled

1 lb. pizza dough, either homemade or store-bought

cornmeal to sprinkle on cookie sheet

extra olive oil for drizzling

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Heat 1 Tablespoon olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add red onion, and sautee until golden brown, about 10 minutes. In the meantime, cut the tough stems out of the spinach, and slice into 1/4-inch wide ribbons. Wash thoroughly, but do not dry- the water that clings to the spinach will help it wilt. When the onions are done, add spinach to skillet, one handful at a time, waiting until spinach is wilted before adding more. Once spinach is wilted, season to taste with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle cornmeal liberally over a rimless baking sheet. Roll pizza dough to 1/4 inch thickness, and place on baking sheet. Spread onion and spinach mixture evenly over pizza, leaving a 1-inch border. Top with apple slices, then blue cheese, then mozarella. Drizzle a little olive oil over the whole thing, and add a little freshly ground black pepper if you like.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the crust is golden brown on the bottom. Cut into pieces and serve immediately.

Note/Tips:

-If you want to add mushrooms to this, I suggest either crimini or assorted wild mushrooms. Clean and slice the mushrooms, and add to the skillet when the onions are almost done. Sautee for a couple minutes, then add spinach as directed.

-If you want to add bacon, just cook a couple slices in whatever way you like, then crumble over the top of the pizza just before baking.

-Try to have your toppings ready to go before you roll out the pizza dough. If the dough sits on the baking sheet for too long, it might sneak past the cornmeal and stick.

-When I make this (or any other pizza) for guests, I usually slice it into random sized and shaped pieces, and serve them on a platter. It just looks cool like this.