Caramelised Onion Pizza

When a big night of drinking is on the cards, you really need some substantial food to nibble on so that you don't get too tipsy!

Last night we went to the Kellermeister Melbourne wine tasting and tried 19 of their delicious wines. These wines covered  recent vintage Riesling and Pinot Gris, to the big boy reds - Shiraz, Grenache and Mataro. To finish off, there were some lovely sweeter styles.

As in previous years, the group of us going had all taken a couple of foodie items to share. Last night we had some beautiful cheese and fruit bread, zucchini fritters with a chilli/mint/yoghurt dipping sauce, charcuterie, antipasto and gorgeous lemongrass chicken. My contribution to the food was this beautiful caramelised onion, goat's cheese and rosemary pizza. Full of intense flavours, but light enough that it worked well with the range of wines that we tried.

We ate the pizza at room temperature, but it would be great served hot with a light rocket salad on the side. I like my pizza crust quite thin, so rolled this out to fit a large baking tray, but if you like the base a bit more doughy, then just use a smaller tray.

If you're not a fan of goat's cheese, then thin slices of a brie or camembert would be great too. You would probably only want to add the slices of cheese just as the pizza comes out of the oven, rather than baking it.

Caramelised Onion and Goat's Cheese Pizza

50g butter

3 large red onions, halved and thinly sliced

120g soft goat's cheese

1 Tbs rosemary sprigs

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat butter in a large frypan over medium heat until bubbling. 

Add the onion and cook for about 45 minutes, or until the onion is soft and caramelised. Stir regularly to stop the onion from sticking and burning. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Allow to cool.

Dough

1 1/2 tsp dry yeast

pinch sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup oil (chilli or lemon infused, if you like)

2 cups plain flour

Combine yeast, sugar, 1/4 cup of flour and 1/4 cup lukewarm water in a small bowl and stir to combine.

Cover the bowl and stand in a warm place for 10-15 minutes, or until foamy.

Place the remaining flour, salt, oil, yeast mixture and 3/4 cup lukewarm water in a food processor and whiz until the mixture forms a ball and comes away cleanly from the side. Add a bit more flour if it seems too wet, or water if it seems to dry.

Turn the dough out into a lightly greased bowl, cover and leave in a warm place for about 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

Knock down the dough and turn on to a lightly floured bench.

Knead gently, then roll out until about 5mm thick.

Lightly spray a oven tray with oil and place the dough on the tray.

Bake the dough for 10 minutes, or until it starts to puff and turn a light golden brown.

Remove from the oven, top with an even layer of the onion, blob with goat's cheese and sprinkle with the rosemary sprigs.

Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until the base is golden and crisp.

Allow to cool for a few minutes, cut into large squares and enjoy with your favourite red wine!

Green Pizza

Pizza is a fairly common dinner in our house because it is just so quick, easy and tasty. It's one meal that I can guarantee the kids will eat and it doesn't take long to whip up. I'll often make a double recipe of the base, so that there is one prepared and in the freezer, ready to use when I don't have the time or energy to make one from scratch.

The kids love ham and pineapple, but I like to be a bit more adventurous with my toppings. Sometimes it is just salami, olives, cheese and tomato, other times smoked salmon, ricotta and rocket with garlic oil. Pizza is a great way to use up all those forlorn looking bits and pieces in the fridge too.

The topping for this pizza was inspired by a recipe I found in a Donna Hay magazine. What better way to add some greens into your diet than atop a pizza! Mixed with some panfried mushrooms, chilli, lemon and ricotta, it was delicious. The topping was simple to make too and very healthy. I had some of the mixture left over, which was great for lunch the next day. Cooked on the pizza, the kale went all crispy. You can have your (kale) chips with your pizza and not feel guilty!

If you're not sure about the kale topping on a pizza, make it to serve as a vegetable with chicken, lamb or steak. I think I'll definitely be making this one again. Even the meat-loving husband gave it the thumbs up!

I'm still trying to find the perfect pizza base, but this one wasn't bad. Next time I'd roll it a little thinner, to make the base more crispy. If you like a thicker, more doughy base, then this one would be great for you. It was also really easy and quick to make. No need to wait for the yeast to rise and simple enough to leave to mix away in the mixer while you prepare the topping.

Pizza Dough

3/4 cup warm water

1x8g sachet instant dried yeast

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp caster sugar

2 Tbs olive oil

2 cups plain flour

Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a mixer with a dough hook.

Mix on slow speed to combine, then increase the speed to medium and knead for about 10 minutes, or until elastic. You might need to add a little more water if it looks too dry.

If you don't have a mixer, you can do this by hand, but will just need a bit more elbow grease!

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to the size of your pizza tray. 

If you like it thick, it will make one base, if you prefer a thinner base, it will make two.

Kale Pizza Topping

A good drizzle of olive oil

250g swiss brown mushrooms, thickly sliced

4 stalks of kale

1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

1 cup fresh ricotta

Grated parmesan to serve

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a frypan on medium heat.

Add the mushroom slices and fry until soft and beginning to brown. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

While the mushrooms are cooking, cut the kale leaves away from the stalks and tear into pieces.

Place the kale in a large bowl with the chilli flakes and lemon rind.

Add the hot mushrooms and mix to combine and slightly soften the kale.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

Place rolled out pizza dough on your desired tray.

Spread thickly with the ricotta cheese, right to the edges of the dough.

Top with the mushroom and kale mixture. You might have some left over, depending how thick you like it.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until the base is golden and crispy.

Remove from the oven, sprinkle with grated parmesan to taste and serve.

Enjoy!