a ripe wedge of gorgonzola cheese and a few crisp apples were the inspiration for this pizza recipe.
everyone who cooks has an angle on making pizza. mine is no tomato based sauce because i just don't like it. so, i always cover the dough with an alternative: either pesto, sun dried tomatoes, roasted red bell pepper sauce http://eatwithaspoon.blogspot.com/2009/07/red-bell-pepper-coulis.html, or just a drizzle of olive oil and parmesan, like in this recipe.
i cooked the chicken breasts in broth for this pizza to keep them moist and tender so they didn't dry out in the hot oven. here they are the neutral pairing to the salty-sweet flavors of onions and apples, and the sharp-sour taste of gorgonzola. vegetarians can use tofu instead of chicken.
my friend, evie, gave me the dough recipe by mario batali, and it's one of my favorites because it is soft and airy. sometimes i use 1/2 whole wheat flour to make it a little more rustic, as i did this time. jim said he likes the surprise of flavors on this pizza which are different than what he usually expects. he also said, "this one is blog-worthy" . . . so here it is.
makes two 14" pizzas
ingredients
• pizza dough recipe by mario batali http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/16/travel/escapes/17pizza.html
• 2 to 3 chicken breast halves
• about 2 cups of vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 large yellow onion
• 2 small crisp sweet apples
• olive oil
• about 2/3 cup chopped parsley
• about 2/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
• about 3/4 to 1 cup of crumbled gorgonzola cheese
• kosher salt and white pepper
directions
1. put the broth and the chicken into a large sauce pan and bring it to a boil.
2. reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the chicken is no longer pink (about 12 to 15 min.)
3. allow the chicken to cool and cut it into long, thin strips.
4. cut the onion in 1/2 and slice it into strips.
5. coat the bottom of a large skillet with olive oil and heat it on a med. flame until it is shimmering.
6. add the onions and stir them to coat them with the olive oil.
7. reduce the flame to low and cook about 30 min. until they are soft and sweet.
8. peel the apples and cut them into thin wedges. then add them to the onions and stir them.
9. cook the apples with the onions about another 10 min. until they are softened.
10. season the onions and apples with a dusting of kosher salt and white pepper
11. put a pizza stone in the middle of the oven and heat it to 400 degrees.
12. roll out the dough with corn meal onto a peel or a large cookie sheet.
13. drizzle the surface of the dough with olive oil and give it a generous sprinkle of grated parmesan and parsley.
14. arrange the chicken strips, onion strips, and apples onto the pizza dough.
15. crumble the gorgonzola over the whole thing.
16. scoot the dough onto the stone and bake about 15-20 min. until golden brown.
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