Hello and good Monday to y’all! Just like always, this weekend absolutely flew by. Back to reality, I guess. We only have this week of school left before Thanksgiving break, though, so no complaints here! I sure love teaching when it comes time for breaks 
. The Duke and I had a wonderfully relaxing weekend. We watched football at a neighbor’s house Saturday, then went to dinner at his Grandpa’s house. Nothing like getting together with family. His Grandpa claims to have the “Bitterness Gene,” causing vegetables to taste bitter and unpleasant to him…what?!?! I’ve never heard of such a thing. Needless to say, our dinner consisted of meat, potatoes and bread! The roast was delicious, but I could have gone for a green bean or something, ya know?
Well, here are some veggies for you. For My Girl, Paula! this week, we could pick any Paula recipe we wanted. I’ve been eyeing this pizza of hers for years now. From the first glance I knew it consisted of caramelized onions and roasted eggplant, but I never could have imagined the bacon, roasted red peppers and goat cheese that were hiding below the melted mozzarella cheese. This is the best pizza I have ever tasted! It’s a bit time consuming (waiting for the dough to rise, roasting the eggplant, caramelizing the onions…), but it’s so worth it. I caramelized my onions in the bacon drippings and it made my life complete. It also made my pants fit a bit tighter, but that’s neither here nor there.
Whole Wheat Pizza Crust
Ingredients
- 1 (1/4 oz) envelope active dry yeast
- 1 tbsp. sugar
- 1 ¼ cup warm water (105-115 degrees)
- 2 cups whole-wheat flour
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 2 tsp. salt
- Cornmeal
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine yeast, sugar and water; let stand for 5 minutes.
- In the work bowl of a food processor, combine whole-wheat flour, all purpose flour and salt. Pulse several times to combine. With the processor running, slowly add yeast mixture. Continue running processor until mixture is combined and forms a ball.
- On a lightly floured surface, turn dough out and knead for five minutes. Place in a lightly greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts for one hour, or until doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out into an 18-inch circle.
- Sprinkle pizza stone evenly with cornmeal. Place dough round on top of stone, folding over to form a crust. Prick dough with a fork.
- Add desired toppings and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
Roasted Eggplant and Caramelized Onion Pizza
Ingredients
- ½ medium eggplant, peeled and chopped
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 3 tbsp. butter (I used 1)
- 4 large sweet onions (I used 3)
- 1 cup pizza sauce (I used about 2 or 3 tablespoons)
- 1 whole wheat pizza crust
- 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- 6 slices pepper bacon, cooked and crumbled
- ½ cup chopped roasted red peppers
- 1 cup crumbled goat cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
- In a medium bowl combine eggplant and oil, toss to coat. Spread in a single layer on prepared pan and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Set aside.
- In a large Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat (I cooked my bacon in the Dutch oven and used the drippings to caramelize the onions…they were extra decadent this way!). Add onions, cover and cook for 30-45 minutes. Uncover, increase heat to medium high and cook, stirring frequently until caramelized, set aside.
- Spread pizza sauce evenly over crust. Sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Top evenly with roasted eggplant, caramelized onions, bacon and red peppers. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese and goat cheese. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until crust is lightly browned.
You have got to try this pizza soon. It is worth every step, trust me. Have a wonderful week and I’ll see you back Thursday. Don’t forget to follow my blog, please and thank you.The Duchess
OH this looks incredible! We love carmelized onions – we make them every week.