There are loads of recipes I’d love to share.
But when writing these posts I try to stick with recipes I’ve made hundreds of times. This recipe for ham and caramelized onion pizza has been a regular in my house for years. Pizza is really easy to throw together. Everybody loves it. Two big stars there. But what I really, really love about this pizza is the way the ham, onions, rosemary and cheese work together. They are easy ingredients to come by and produce eye-rolling results.
I use fresh mozzarella when possible.
You can easily use regular provolone, at least that’s what the Italians call our common mozzarella.
Get an early start with the onions. I try to cook them on med-low to avoid browning. If you take your time and let them slowly soften up, they’ll be nice and sweet for you.
This can take 30-40 minutes. But it can be a mindless task. Set about your usual kitchen work, mine is the endless sink of dishes, and stir every 5 minutes or so. At the end hit it with a little bit of lemon juice for added flavor.
With the onions rocking and rolling you can whip up the pizza crust.
This pizza crust recipe is undeniably my favorite. It’s easy. Why? For starters, it’s no-knead/no-rise which means you can have it in the oven 5 minutes after you start it. The other reason why it is so gosh, darn easy is because you can memorize the measurements. Taking the time to look up a recipe is a pain. So just remember this one.
Okay, here we go. One tablespoon of sugar, one tablespoon of yeast, dissolved in one cup of hot water. Mix in two cups of flour and a dash of salt. Mix in a little more flour and roll it out! Top and bake. You can remember that, right?
And here’s a little sneak peek at my favorite pizza pan. I prefer it to the pizza stone because it’s just an easier piece of kitchen equipment to manage. Storing a round, heavy stone in my kitchen is a little dangerous.
Roll the crust out as thin as you can get it in the middle. The edges are ok a little thicker. Top the crust with olive oil, onions, rosemary, cheese and ham.
I bake my pizzas hot!
500 degrees if I can get my oven that high. I try to preheat for a half hour or so. Then watch it close! 12 minutes is all it should take to get the crust crispy and cheese bubbly.
Oh my goodness, you guys! You have to try this ham and caramelized onion pizza.
- Crust:
- 1 T yeast
- 1 T sugar
- 1 Cup hot water
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp salt
- Topping:
- olive oil
- 2 white or yellow onions
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 4 oz sliced ham chopped
- 8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
- In a large saute pan, add 1 tablespoon olive oil, onions and rosemary. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low and cook for another 20-30 minutes, until the onions are soft and golden brown. Season with salt and a lemon juice.
- While the onions cook. Prepare the dough. Add yeast and sugar to one cup of hot water, about the temperature of a comfortable bath. Let dissolve for 5 minutes. Mix in 2 cups of flour and a tsp. of salt. Add in another half cup or more to make the dough form into a nice ball. Turn onto a floured surface, knead a few times to make sure the flour is combined. Roll flat and transfer to a pizza baking sheet.
- Brush the top of the unbaked pizza crust with olive oil. Top with cheese, ham, onions and rosemary needles. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Serve right away.
Adapted from Tyler Florence
Try it out and let me know what you think!
If you are still craving pizza and want to add even more recipes to our arsenal, try these recipes on for size:
BBQ Chicken Pizza Rolls: Easy to make and freeze.
Gretchen Hesse says
Can’t wait to try this over the weekend. Trader Joe’s makes one like this with grueyre cheese, ham and carmelized onions and we LOVE it. So excited to try this!