At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, let me say that this pizza is the best I've ever made. Evah. The smell, wafting through my kitchen, made my stomach growl almost as loud as the applause for this speech. Before you're all: onions and pizza? Big deal. Please note that there's also cream involved (and thyme). And, of course, using a mandoline to thinly slice the onions allows the cream and thyme to permeate the onions completely. Add a crispy crust, FULL of FLAVOR, and each creamy, sweet bite overfilled me with such delight that I almost lost culinary consciousness. (Ok, maybe that was hyperbolic). All I’m saying is try it.
These onions, above, turned into this extraordinary dinner, below. Magic or Jim Lahey? I can only hope that a trip to Sullivan Street is somewhere in my near future.
Pizza Cipolla
Serves 4
Pizza Dough
(Makes enough for 2 pizza doughs. You can freeze the other one and save it for later.)
- 500 grams bread flour (3 3/4 cups)
- 2 1/2 teaspoons instant or active dry yeast (10 grams)
- 3/4 teaspoons table salt (5 grams)
- 3/4 teaspoon sugar, plus a pinch (about 3 grams)
- 1 1/3 – 1 1/2 cups room temperature water
- extra-virgin olive oil for pans
1. In a medium bowl, stir together the bread flour, yeast, salt and sugar. Add the water and, using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until blended, at least 30 seconds. The dough should be able to contain all of the flour, if it seems dry or if there is excess flour at the bottom of the bowl, add water a tablespoon at a time.Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature until the dough has doubled in volume, about 2 hours.
2. Using a bowl scraper or a rubber spatula, remove the dough from the bowl onto a floured work surface. Gently form into a rough ball. Then divide teh dough into two halves spacking them 4 inches apart, and cover both with a moistenend kitchen towel for 30 minutes.
3. When you are ready to make your pie, see instruction #2 below. As noted above, this recipe makes enough for two doughs. Freeze one or make two pizzas!
Pizza Toppings
- 2 medium yellow onions
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, coarsely chopped
1. Preheat oven to 500° F.
2. Prepare toppings: Use a mandoline, or very sharp knife, to cut the onions into thin slices (1/8-inch thick). You want about 6 cups of sliced onions. In a medium bowl, toss together the onions, cream, salt and thyme.
3. Roll out dough: Spread about two table spoons of olive oil on a 13×18-inch rimmed baking sheet. Pick up the dough and invert and stretch the dough the length of the baking sheet. The floured side should now be facing up and the moist side should be on the pan. Using your palms, gently pull, press, and stretch the dough to fill the entire bottom of the pan. There is no need ot make a crust or a lip around the edge of the pan. Your objective should be to make an even layer of dough across the entire bottom of the pan. If the dough sticks to your fingers, lightly dust it with flour or coat your fingers with olive oil. Pinch any holes together.
4. Spread the onion mixture over the dough going all of the way to the edges. There should be more onions around the edges of the dough since they tend to cook faster.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the topping is turning golden brown and crust is slightly charred. Serve hot or at room temperature. {Note: watch the bottom of your pizza; it gets brown around the 15 minute mark}
