Earnie, we made this last night REC: Fontina, Proscuitto and Caramelized Onion Pizza
and it was so good...
From Food & Wine, part of a food challenge they gave 4 chefs from the Top Chef program. The magazine asked their readers to make the 2 dishes the chefs created and vote which one they like the best. Will try the other one on Monday night.
FONTINA, PROSCIUTTO AND CARAMELIZED ONION PIZZA
4 servings
dough: 1 envelope active dry yeast
1 c warm H2O
pinch of sugar
1 t olive oil
1 t chopped thyme
1 t salt
~ 2 1/3 c AP flour
(or a container of fresh pizza dough from Whole Foods!)
toppings:
3 T olive oil
2 lbs white onions, thinly sliced
salt & pepper
3/4 lbs Italian Fontina cheese, sliced (we grated it)
8 thin slices of proscuitto
2 T grapeseed oil
1 T white truffle oil
2 T sherry vinegar
1 apple, peeled, cored and cut into matchsticks
4 oz arugula (~6 cups)
In a large bowl, mix the yeast with the oil, thyme and salt. Add 2 c of flour and stir until a very soft wet dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead, working in ~ 1/3 cup more flour until the dough is soft and silky. Shape into a ball and put in an oiled bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk for 1 hr at room temp, or overnight in the fridge.
Preheat the oven to 450. Oil 2 large baking sheets. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onions to the pan and stir to coat with the oil. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the onions are softened, ~ 5 min. Remove cover and cook the onions over high heat until golden brown and caramelized. If the onions are dry add a few tablespoons of water. Season with salt and pepper and remove to a plate and let cool slightly.
Punch down the dough and turn it out onto a floured board. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece out to a 9"x3" rectangle and arrange on the oiled baking sheets. (We made one large pizza on a cookie tray instead.) Top the dough with the Fontina, the onions and the slices of prosciutto. Bake for 25 min or until golden and crisp.
In a large bowl, whisk together the grapeseed oil, vinegar and truffle oil. season with salt and pepper and add apple and arugula. Toss well and top the hot pizzas with the salad and serve immediately. (We didn't have the salad, as we already had a shrimp louie with 3 fresh cracked Dungeoness crabs for dinner - maybe I'll try the pizzas this way sometime, but without the salad part they were incredibly good!).
