Goat Cheese Pizza with Caramelized Onions and Pesto

There are few things more delicious than the rich and savory, umami flavor of caramelized onions. Through trial and error, I've learned that making them requires some patience and a few basic rules to stick by. This pizza is the ideal recipe to perfect the art of caramelizing onions since they are the flavor focal point of the dish.  

This recipe of mine came about from an intense craving for homemade pizza. The creamy goat cheese, smoky roasted tomatoes, fresh pesto, and sweet yet savory caramelized onions create an absolutely sublime flavor combination.

Making pesto from scratch with the help of a food processor is super simple! All you need is a few cups of fresh basil, a couple cloves of garlic, raw pine nuts, olive oil, and a hard cheese.

Ok, so here's the trick to caramelizing onions- patience! If you want them to turn out just right, you'll need to allow 30-40 minutes for them to slowly brown over the stove-top. More importantly, avoid using high heat throughout.

Prep Time: 1 hour

Serves: 3-5

Ingredients:

2 Sweet Onions, sliced

1 lb, Pizza Dough (Whole Wheat)

2 cups, Cherry Tomatoes, roasted

4-5 ounces, Goat Cheese

2 cups, Fresh Basil

2 cloves, Garlic, minced

1/4 cup, Pine Nuts

1/2 cup, Parmesan Cheese

2/3 cup, Olive Oil

1/2 tspn, Butter

1 tspn, Raw Sugar

Sea Salt, Red Chili Pepper Flakes, and Black Pepper to taste

Balsamic glaze to drizzle

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400F. Place the cherry tomatoes on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and pepper, and let roast for 25-30 minutes.

Coat the bottom of a wide pan with olive oil and half a teaspoon of butter. Allow the pan to heat for a minute or two before adding in the onion slices. Thoroughly coat the onions with the olive oil and butter before reducing the heat to medium. Cook for 10 minutes before sprinkling with salt and sugar. Let cook for another 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep the onions from burning.

To prepare the pesto, combine the garlic, basil and pine in a food processor. Pulse until coarsely chopped. Next, slowly add in the olive oil through the top of the processor while continuing to blend until smooth. Finally, season with sea salt, pepper, and red chili flakes. Add in the Parmesan cheese and pulse until combined.

Roll out the pizza dough before spreading out on a baking sheet coated with olive oil. Cook in the oven at 450F for 5-8 minutes. Top with the fresh pesto, goat cheese, roasted tomatoes, and caramelized onions before returning to the oven to cook for an additional 12 minutes, or until the edges appear crisp and the goat cheese fully warmed.

Let cool before slicing. Serve drizzled with balsamic glaze.