As Mr. X said, zucchini and pepperoni, together at least. Alright, he was being sarcastic, but he didn’t taste this pizza, either, and I’m repeating his commentary with no trace of sarcasm at all. This one was a winner. The sweetness of the onions balanced the spiciness of the pepperoni, and the zucchini was the unique, unexpected, summery tasting thing that tied it all together.
Not to mention the crust–I think I’ve finally found the recipe that’s going to stick. So much so that it’s going into the collection of basic, foundational recipes, the things I come back to over and over. This crust is chewy and crispy, and holds up like a champ to the crazy things I like to top it with. Yes, kids, we have a winner.
If I owned a restaurant, you can bet this pizza would be on the menu. It even took me surprise with its deliciousness, and you should have heard to praise heaped on it by my housemate, who proclaimed it “the land of deliciousness.” Brilliant.
Zucchini, Pepperoni, and Caramelized Onion Pizza
- 1 T. butter
- 1 yellow onion, sliced into rings
- salt and pepper
- 1 small zucchini, cut into thin slices
- 1/4 c. pizza sauce (yes, I used jarred)
- about 3 oz. pepperoni, sliced
- about 1 c. grated mozzarella
- one ball of pizza dough
Melt the butter in a large skillet, and add the onions. Stir them around a bit to make sure they’re pretty well coated with butter, then leave them be and let them cook, over very low heat, for about half an hour, forty minutes. You might want to give them a quick nudge every ten minutes or so, to make sure they’re cooking evenly, but for the most part they’re ok on their own. You can cut up all the rest of the vegetables and meats and stuff while your onions are caramelizing.
When the onions are pretty much done, sprinkle them with a little bit of salt and pepper, and then add the zucchini. Toss it all together a bit, then cover the skillet and let the zucchini steam and cook for about five minutes. Give it a little stir every now and then, again, to make sure everything is cooking evenly. Once the zucchini is soft and a little more translucent looking, remove the skillet from the heat.
Roll the dough out to about quarter of an inch thickness as best you can. While this dough is delicious, it can be a little tricky to work with. I’ve discovered that cornmeal works very well on the counter. The thing I have the hardest time with is transferring the pizza to the oven. I think I need to get me a pizza peel. Anyway, roll out the dough, and spread a small amount, maybe a quarter of a cup, of sauce over the dough. Then sprinkle over the mozzarella, and top the whole thing with pepperoni, zucchini, and caramelized onions.
Bake at 550F for about eight to ten minutes–it’s ready when the crust is lovely and golden brown.
I am overfond of my lovely pizza crust. It was just so perfect, I felt like a proud mama or something. Alright, I won’t go that far.
If you read this regularly, you may have noticed that I almost never use tomato sauce on pizza. I don’t really know why, other than that it’s expected, and I tend to like to make pizzas that are a little out of the ordinary. However, this tomato sauce was pretty spectacular, so it might have to make a more regular appearance. The brand is Casa Visco, which I’d never heard of before. Not bad, not bad at all.
Zucchini and Pepperoni, together at last and living happily ever after, in my belly. Yay!