Throwback Thursday, Pizza Caprese

the Painted Apron

2 years ago

Have you ever heard of the holy trinity in cooking?

The three ingredients vary depending on where you live ~

In Cajun country, or Louisiana,

the holy trinity ingredients are onions, celery, and bell peppers

In other parts of the country they are often

onion, celery, and carrots

In Italy they are tomatoes, basil and garlic

What ever the ingredients are,

the concept is the same,

it is basically an intense flavor base

My personal holy trinity is

caramelized onions, roasted garlic, and parmesan cheese

Anything tastes good with this!

This is the base for my Pizza Caprese

If you don’t have time to caramelize onions in a skillet,

just peel and slice the onion,

drizzle it with olive oil and salt and pepper,

wrap in foil and bake at 400 for an hour

Basically the same technique that you use for roasting garlic

You can do this a day or two before

and keep the roasted onion and garlic in the refrigerator

until you need them

Slice the tomatoes and cheese and cut the basil into chiffonade

by rolling the leaves up tightly

and then cutting horizontally into thin strips

Partially bake the pizza dough just until it starts to brown

Brush the crust with a little olive oil

Sprinkle with kosher salt,

I used Hawaiian Sea Salt~ that’s the pink flecks

Squeeze roasted garlic from bulb

and spread over crust with the back of a spoon

Top with roasted or caramelized onions

Top with shredded Parmesan cheese

Next add the mozzarella

Add the tomatoes and return to oven and bake

until crust is golden and cheese is melted

Garnish hot pizza with the basil chiffonade

Cut into squares to serve,

large squares for main dish or small squares for appetizers

PIZZA CAPRESE

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine American, Italian

Keyword Caprese Pizza, tomato & basil flatbread

Ingredients

1 ball of fresh pizza dough* or prepared pizza crust
1 large onion
1 head garlic
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
3 ounces of fresh mozzarella
12 cherry tomatoes halved
6 leaves fresh basil
olive oil
Kosher salt

Instructions

Roast garlic in a foil packet, drizzled with olive oil, at 400 for 1 hour. Peel and slice onion and cook the same way or caramelize the slices in a skillet. Cut basil leaves into chiffonade.
Prepare pizza dough and bake according to package directions until it just starts to brown, about 1/2-3/4 of cooking time.
Remove from oven and brush with olive oil and sprinkle with Kosher salt.
Squeeze garlic onto crust and spread with the back of a spoon.
Top with caramelized onions.
Top with 3/4 cup Parmesan, reserving the rest for topping later.
Top with sliced mozzarella and tomatoes.
Return to oven and continue baking until cheese has melted and crust is done.
Remove and top immediately with reserved Parmesan and basil.
Cut into large squares for main dish or small squares for appetizers