Vidalia Onion Pizza

I can't believe I haven't posted this recipe here. I'll post a more extensive tutorial version of this in a baking community I joined on Livejournal. It's May, and the Vidalias are on sale in the grocery stores, and I'll probably be making this several more times.

This is actually more like a flatbread, because it's not loaded up with toppings and sauce. It's about the caramelized onions and the chewy wheatiness of the crust.

I make all my pizza dough without really measuring. I've done it that way for years, and gotten consistently good results. But I do start with known amount of water. I figure a generous cup of water for every 14-inch pizza I'm going to make. So if I'm really jonesing for these, and it's not going to bother me to be working on these for hours, here are approximately the ingredients for 4 (which can be halved or quartered as necessary):

4 cups water, warmed to 110 to 115 F
4 spoonfuls of honey, dissolved in the water
Enough yeast to sprinkle over the top of the water. About 4 teaspoons or so
4 2-3 tablespoon pours of olive oil
4 tablespoons sea salt, (if coarse, crush it with a mortar and pestle so it dissolves faster)
About a cup of yellow cornmeal (I like the structure it gives)
Enough all-purpose flour to make a dough that will hold together well enough for kneading, roughly one third of that whole wheat.

Pour the water and honey in a large bowl, and sprinkle the yeast over it. Let the yeast dissolve and get foamy. Add the olive oil and corn meal and stir. Begin adding the flour, stirring to dissolve. Add the salt while you still have a moist slurry. Add just as much flour as it takes to form a dough...no more. You'll be adding a little more as you knead. I like my curved bowl scraper to start folding flour into the mix as it gets thicker.




Knead the dough for 10 minutes. When smooth and elastic, divide half or quarters, and place in ziploc bags containing a bit of olive oil. Seal them and pop them in the fridge for a day or three. A minimum of one day. The flavor and structure are so much better.




For the topping, take about a dozen (at least) Vidalia or sweet onions. I suppose I could slice them in my food processor, but perversely I'm too lazy to haul it up from the basement, and I want slices, not bits. Since you're going to be cooking these nearly down to goo, you need to start with fairly decent size pieces. So I stand there and slice them into half-rings by hand, and cry and cry.



That's Grandma Kueffner's big green Tupperware bowl filled with sliced onions.

You'll also need:

8 to 12 ounces Mascarpone cheese, room temperature
Ground sea salt and black pepper
Olive oil (something plain for sauteeing, and preferably something green and fruity for topping). I've been fairly impressed with Costco's Kirkland brand recently, of all things
Thinly sliced green or spring onion tops
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (the real stuff)

Once you've got the onions sliced, take the largest skillet or pan you have, heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil (nothing fancy needed for this part), and begin adding onions. I've found the best tool for the job is my old T-Fal wok, which basically has no nonstick coating left any more. Saute' the onions on high, and keep adding as the onions cook down. Believe it or not, they all will fit. Salt and pepper the onions as you go.

Since there are so many, the pan is going to fill with juice. It may also depend on how much moisture the onions happen to contain. I have to fight the temptation to drain off the juice so they will caramelize faster. Don't. The soupy stuff will evaporate eventually. Lower the heat to medium high, and keep stirring and checking. After 2 1/2 hours, you will get a golden brown, sweet, jammy onion goo.




Take the dough out of the fridge, and divide it into four equal pieces. Each piece should weigh about 20 ounces. Form them into balls, pulling and tucking the rough edges under, making a smooth dome. Place on a square of parchment paper (14 to 15 inches wide).

Spread the dough into 14-inch rounds on the paper, pushing from the center. Use a little olive oil for your hands if necessary.




Dab and smear the mascarpone cheese onto the dough. I didn't quite have enough this time because I'd already gotten into the container for something else, so I cut it with a little light cream cheese. A little sour cream would work, too. If more moisture is desired, go ahead and smear on sour cream or creme fraiche. Too much mascarpone will make the pizzas greasy, but you want enough to get a rich butteriness. Divide the caramelized onions among the dough rounds. Drizzle with a small amount of olive oil and top with salt and pepper. I added a dusting of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.



One of my favorite kitchen tools ever is my Lodge 14-inch cast iron pizza pan. A large pizza stone would work, too. Or if you're lucky enough to just have a pizza oven handy... Heat the oven with the pan placed in the middle (with no oven racks above it) to 475 F.

Let the pizzas rise a bit while the oven is heating. With a pizza peel, transfer one pizza with the parchment paper onto the pan in the oven and bake 18 to 20 minutes. I have baked two at a time before, but the one on the lower rack tends to burn like hell. So I bake one at a time.



Of course you'll be using an oven mitt for safety, just like you see me doing *ahem*.

Carefully remove pizzas with the paper at the end of baking and let cool slightly. Slide out the parchment and discard. Sprinkle with the green onions. That's the simplest version I make. Because it's spring, and I can now step outside and pick fresh herbs, I added some oregano, chives and thyme. But additions of smoky crumbled bacon, walnuts, blue cheese, goat cheese, feta, dates, or whatever else that looks good at the time could be added before you put them in the oven.



Room temperature thin slivers of these make an awesome appetizer. These have gone over very well at beer-tastings and large family gatherings. Reheat leftover slices on the same cast iron pan on the stovetop, covered with a lid. Gets nice and crispy.