Pizza party

Since we don't have a backyard here at the apartment, the possibility of BBQ-ing has tragically decreased, which is a shame, because I love a good cookout.

Instead of using the weird looking grills on the property, I just experiment with other recipes instead. Last night, to make something special for the July 4th weekend, I decided to make this: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/03/caramelized-onion-prosciutto-pizza/

Her version is the picture included above right.

We purchased a ball of dough from Panico's in New Brunswick, after my personal favorite pizza place in the area, Frank's, in East Brunswick, refused to sell us one. Panico's changed $5 for a large, which was expensive, as I've bought dough from a pizza joint in Metuchen for $2.50 a ball. However, we didn't get to Panicos until about 4 p.m., and had perishable groceries in the back of the car, so we just took the dough and ran.

Additionally, you'll need 1 red onion, some brown sugar, shredded parmesan cheese, a ball of fresh mozzarella (I used Shoprite brand. Not my first choice, but it worked well enough) 8 ounces of sliced prociutto, and plenty of olive oil.

The most labor intensive part of the whole thing was carmelizing the onion, after chopping it thin. Throw it in a skillet with two tablespoons of oil and a quarter cup of brown sugar, and cook it down until it gets soft and brown and sweet smelling.

After that you roll the dough out flat on a pan (or pizza stone. I have decided to get a pizza stone, to avoid burned crusts), drizzle on olive oil and sprinkle salt and the parmesan. I added the onions first and spread them all over the dough, then put the sliced ball of cheese on top and added the prociutto, ripped up in pieces, all over the top. The recipe called for 8 ounces, like I previously said, but I inadvertenly only bought three, and felt that was too much for the pizza. So use discretion.

As a result of baking it at 500 degree for 17 minutes, as recommended, a lot of the water from the cheese ran off the pie onto the baking pan and burned. The botton of the dough also burned a bit and became tough. (See, I told you. I need a pizza stone!), so if you have a gas stove, like us, perhaps you'd consider cooking for a shorter time, or a lower temperature. This is what it ended up looking like.

Kinda like Ree's, right? Except the burned residue on the side. But I assure you, once we cut into it, the ham was crisp, like it was supposed to be, and the cheese melted perfectly, and the onions made almost like an onion jam, in lieu of red sauce.

I totally plan on making this again. Next time, I will make my own whole wheat dough, to make it even tastier.