There's always time for pie

Pizza pie, that is (the other type of pie is a whole different post). Pizza is one of those good, homey comfort foods that never does you wrong. You can use tomato sauce or olive oil as a base, and any number or combination of toppings will do. But be forewarned: when you find one that works, it's hard to want to make anything else.

My own standby is Blue cheese, red onion, and pine nut pizza. I've been making this combination for years, and it's my absolute favorite pizza. This is the one that I make whenever I get to decide what goes on the pizza at home. Unfortunately, for me, since Loving Boyfriend is the crust-maker (he loves to flex his manly Italian muscles as he tosses the pizza in the air), I only rarely get to choose the toppings. His 'specialty' is his chicken-wing pizza (which is also excellent, especially dipped in blue cheese dressing...but I'll share this one at some later date if I can get his approval), so that's usually what gets made.

But when I am lucky enough to be able choose, this where my pizza loyalty lies. Today, I'm also going to share another pizza we just discovered this Friday during a quick stop to the grocery store, that may have just topped our pizza chart as a favorite to us both: Carmelized Onion and Balsamic Vegetable Pizza.

Make or buy your crust - we usually just pick up some freshly-made pizza dough from the grocery store, because it's quick and easy, but you know homemade is always better... Here...try Ilva's crust recipe...It's fabulous, and I'm sure that she won't mind... Roll it out to pizza size. Then, of course, there is the obligatory (and fun) tossing it up into the air and stretching it out on your hands. Just don't drop it on the floor - especially if you have two very large dogs who are always hungry and sitting there just waiting for you to drop the big doughy dog-cookie on the floor.

We cook ours on a pizza stone, at about 350 degrees. We preheat the oven with the stone inside, then get all the ingredients ready while it's heating. Take it out right before you're ready to lay on the toppings.

This is really so easy that you don't even need a recipe, but here's what you'll need:


Blue-cheese, red onion and pine nut pizza:

Good olive oil
Thinly sliced small red onion
Thinly sliced plum tomatoes (2)
Blue cheese, crumbled (we recently tried Rogue Creamery's new Smokey Blue on this pizza, which is also excellent in thin slices on toasted baguettes rubbed with garlic...)
a couple of tbsps of pine nuts
Mozzerella cheese (we used slices of fresh this time, but grated from a block will do also)
fresh basil, chiffonade (yes, those are little spots of dried basil in the picture, but do as I say, not as I do)

(chiffonade = shredded; just stack up a few leaves and roll them together tightly, then slice across very thinly)

Carmelized Onion and Balsamic Vegetable Pizza:
(**This is awesome, really. Something about the the sweet balsamic vinegar and the carmelized onion with the salty, tangy feta cheese and all the vegetables really balances out nicely**)

Good Balsamic Vinegar and Olive oil (mixed, heavier on the olive oil, but enough sweet balsamic to taste it; slather this on as your base)
1 small onion, thinly sliced and carmelized slowly over low heat
1 clove of garlic, minced and thrown in with the onions for the last 30 seconds
2 large handfuls of baby spinach
One thinly sliced plum tomato
One Portabello Mushroom, sliced
a few tbsp. of feta cheese, sprinkled about
Fresh Basil, chiffonade
Mozzerella, grated (or fresh)

We layer things in that order they're listed, pop the pizza in the oven, and about 20 minutes later, we're tearing into the gooey cheese and stuffing our faces with the stuff. Embarrassingly, Loving Boyfriend and I actually devoured an entire (medium to smallish sized) Carmelized onion and Balsamic pizza on Friday, all by ourselves. And enjoyed Every. Last. Bite.

Oink.