Friday Recipe Blogging - Pizza!

I've let this tradition slide over the past couple of months - chalk it up to the fact that it's summer and everything else is in re-runs, so why not my cooking? My aunt is coming over tonight for creamy mushroom risotto (the recipe for which I will blog next week - I was looking through my archives and can't find if I've ever given that recipe before...) - but today I'm giving you the recipe (such as it is - it's so simple) for what TD and I call "Special Pizza":

Special Pizza with Pears and Gorgonzola*
- One packaged pizza crust (I prefer the ones that are a little thinner - I steer clear of the Boboli thick crusts...)
- One large onion
- One pear (can be whatever kind you want)
- A box of blue cheese or gorgonzola crumbles
- A bag of finely shredded mozzarella
- One garlic clove
- A little olive oil

1. Prep the crust by brushing a little olive oil on it - these things turn out really nice if you have a pizza pan - a round pan with little holes in the bottom. If you don't have one, a cookie sheet works just as well...pre-heat the oven to whatever temp the pizza crust package says.
2. Peel and cut the garlic clove in half - rub the cut section all over the pizza crust.
3. Spread a layer of mozzarella cheese on the pizza crust - use a couple of cups.
4. Sprinkle a few crumbles of gorgonzola on the mozzarella - only a few!
5. Cut up the onion so that it's in small strips (rather than dicing it). Put it in a skillet and begin carmelizing it (I use butter and a teensy bit of olive oil so it doesn't scorch). You have to put the skillet on low heat to get the onions carmelized - it takes patience, but so worth it!
6. While the onions are on, cut the pear into thin slices lengthwise (from top to bottom).
7. After the onions are done, transfer them to a plate and, with a fork, put them on the pizza crust and cheese so that they are spread evenly.
8. With the pear, if it's pretty ripe and soft, forego this step. If the pear is still unripe, saute the slices in the skillet for a few minutes. They'll become a bit more translucent and soft.
9. Put the pears slices evenly on top of the onions - I make a circular pattern...
10. Sprinkle a few more crumbles of gorgonzola on the pears - with this cheese, you should put on however much you like - but because this is a mild-flavored pizza, too much gorgonzola can easily over-power the taste.
11. Cook that puppy and eat it - but really be careful not to over cook it!

*some of you might recognize this as similar to a pizza that California Pizza Kitchen makes - we are indeed guilty of theft! ;)