Mark my words: you’ve never experience paradise until you’ve had a bite of blue cheese paired with onion jam.
I love strong, pungent flavors and the combination of the sweet, tangy jam and the sharp, fragrant blue cheese has literally caused my eyes to roll back in my head.
It’s why I had to turn it into pizza.
Now, pizza isn’t the easiest thing I’ve ever cooked. It looks like it should be – a little dough, a little sauce, a little cheese – what could go wrong? But it’s actually taken a lot of experimentation for me to get the crust right without everything either burning or remaining underdone in the middle. But what I’ve gotten out these trials is is pure deliciousness.
First, a little on onion jam. It’s kind of like regular jam, but less sweet and more vinegary. If you’re an allium lover like me, you’ll relish this… relish. I’ve learned everything I know about it from Dare to Eat a Peach, from which I adapted this recipe for the pizza:
Onion Jam Ingredients:
1 TB olive oil
2 large onions, sliced thinly
1 TSP salt
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 brown sugar
Onion Jam Directions:
Heat olive oil over medium. After a minute or so, drop a piece of onion in – if it slightly sizzles, add the remaining onion slices and the salt.
Stir occasionally for the next 15-20 minutes until they start to give off liquid, becoming pale yellow and melty. When it seems most of the liquid has evaporated, add the vinegars and sugar. Continue to stir every few minutes for the next 20 until the mixture is thick and brown. (It can burn easily if you leave it sitting too long, so keep an eye on it!)
Refrigerate and eat at your pleasure – it’s great for sandwiches, scrambled eggs, or cheese platters.
However, if you’re planning to use it for the pizza, feel free use as soon as it’s ready. No cooling time needed.
I prefer to make my own pizza dough, and I’ve had some luck recently with the Roberta’s recipe published in the New York Times. However, it’s just as tasty (and much easier, of course) to use a store-bought dough.
Pizza Ingredients:
Enough dough for a 14-inch pizza
1-2 cups onion jam
1 cup crumbled blue cheese
2 cloves minced garlic
3-4 slices prosciutto
1/2 cup peeled Brussels sprouts
Truffle oil for drizzling (if unavailable, use olive oil)
Pizza Directions:
Preheat your lightly oiled pizza stone or pizza pan in the oven at 550 degrees.
Flour your surface before laying out the dough. Patiently stretch out the dough with your fingers until it’s nice and thin (but not tearing.) Do not be tempted to use a rolling pin, as this will flatten the gas bubbles and leave your crust too dense.
When it matches the size and shape you’re going for, remove the pan from the oven and gentlylay the crust over it. (Be careful, as it will be HOT.) Spread the onion jam evenly over the top and layer with cheese, garlic, prosciutto, and Brussels sprouts in that order. (I recommend flecking the minced garlic instead of trying to smear with a spoon.) Drizzle a small amount of truffle oil over the outer rim.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, just so it’s baked in the middle, gooey on top, and the sprouts are crisped but not completely blackened.
VOILA!
