Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Pizzette

The concept for these little pizza/tarts came from a family recipe. My cousin, Riad Nasr, is a world class chef and quite often the source of inspiration in my kitchen. He practices his craft in New York City at a line-up of crazy-popular restaurants including Pastis, Minetta Tavern and Balthazar. Several years ago he wrote the Balthazar cookbook and included a savory tart with herby caramelized onions and goat cheese. I made it and fell in love. When Jeff and I decided to write our Pizza book I knew this flavor combo would be fantastic as a pizza. I’ve made it in several classes that we’ve taught to rave reviews, so I thought I would make it with you here.

The key to this pizza is caramelizing the onions. You can speed up the process by using a slightly higher heat and adding a touch of sugar, but for this recipe we’re going the old fashion route and doing it slow. I admit this may take a few more than 5 minutes, but I think it’s worth it. For those of you looking for a speedier version you can find one on page 108 of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

Balthazar Goat Cheese and Onion Pizzette (page 156 Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day)

1 pound dough ( I’ve used the olive oil dough p. 61, cornmeal dough on p. 86 and gluten-free dough p. 96, but any non-sweet dough in the book will work.)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium yellow onions, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices

1 bay leaf

2 teaspoons fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried)

Salt and pepper to taste

4 ounces chevre (soft goat cheese), room temperature

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 egg yolk

In a skillet over medium-low heat, add the olive oil, onions, bay leaf, thyme, salt and pepper.

Cook slowly, stirring every few minutes.

As the onions cook they will lose their moisture and stick to the pan. If so, add a few tablespoons of water and continue to cook.

caramelized onions

Repeat this as often as necessary and cook until the onions are golden, this may take about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. The onions can be made a few days in advance. (They store well, so I suggest you make a large batch and have them on hand to eat with everything from this pizza to a topping for your burgers.)

To make the cheese topping:

In a medium bowl, mix together the chevre, cream cheese and egg yolk until it is very smooth.

To bake the pizzettes:

You can either bake them on two cookie sheets, which have been lightly greased with olive oil or directly on a preheated Baking Stone.

caramelized onion pizza

Divide the 1-pound piece of dough into 6 equal pieces and form them into balls.

caramelized onion pizza

Roll the dough balls out into 1/8-inch-thick circles. (If you are baking on the stone, only roll out as many dough balls as will fit on the stone at one time.) Top each with about 2 tablespoons of the cheese mixture and 2 tablespoons of the onions. Sprinkle with a dash of salt.

caramelize onion pizza

Bake for about 10 minutes, check for doneness and turn the pizzas around in the oven if some of the pizzettes are baking faster than others. If you are baking on the cookie sheets rotate them front to back and top shelf to bottom. They may need up to 5 more minutes.

caramelized onion pizza

 

28 thoughts to “Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Pizzette”

  1. These look so good that I am glad I still have half of my olive oil bread batch ready to use.

    Also, my daughter made pizza crust yesterday using this recipe from the copy of the book I gave her for Christmas and pronounced it the best crust she had ever had.

  2. This looks so fabulous. I’m making this this week. I have my sourdough started out and ready so I’ll make a sourdough batch of your bread today and get it ready for this recipe. I’m going to make this for my Bible Study group on Weds. night as part of our dinner. Thanks for sharing!
    I liked it so much, I shared it with my friends on FB.

  3. a few weeks ago I did caramelized onion, thyme, goat cheese, dates and walnuts, first brushed the dough with a little garlic butter, they were amazing!

  4. I have a question about pretzels in the original artisan bread in 5 minutes book. I want to make a pretzel loaf, because a local gourmet grocery store near me does them and they are amazing. They are like 6″ baguettes (about 1.5 – 2″ wide). My main questions is if I should do anything special for a small loaf like that? But also very important, they have three diagonal slashes on the ones at the store. Should I do that before boiling? After? Before egg wash?

    Thanks!

    1. Hi Brian,

      You will want to do the slashes after it comes out of the water and after you have done the egg wash.

      Thanks, Zoë

  5. I am LOVING the Deli Rye bread recipe in AB5M–it’s about to go into the oven, but it’s so good, I’ve been stealing pieces of raw dough! My question is, does it matter if I use dark rye or regular? I have both here at home for some reason, and I just did 1/2 of each (I wasn’t sure what the difference was). I just recently made the pumpernickel and it was delicious. Thank you for such wonderful recipes my family and I can enjoy!

    1. Yvonne: In that particular recipe, either will work; different character to the bread though. Dark rye is more flavorful and is usually ground coarser. More like pumpernickel.

  6. I want to bake a whole wheat loaf from the master recipe in the Healthy Bread book using only whole wheat flour. I need to eliminate the white flour for medical reasons. What adjustments do I need to make to the recipe?

    1. Hi Harry,

      There are several recipes in Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day that are 100% whole wheat or other whole grains. If you check the index you will find them.

      Thanks and enjoy, Zoë

  7. im going 2 buy in bulk now that i bought your book!lol Still learning but am empowered by the goof proof master recipe that made baking fresh breads taboo. kudos for sharing!

  8. My question is about refrigeration. Should leftovers go in the fridge? What about focaccia with only cheese on top? Cheese and peppers? Hard cheese vs. soft cheese? I am preparing focaccia tonight to be served 18 hours later. Can it sit out on the counter that long with toppings? I have never ref. bread before – it’s usually eaten right away or frozen. Thank you!

    1. Donna: Which focaccia are you talking about (which book and page number)?

      I’m not crazy about refrigerated bread– it’s a dehydrating environment.

      1. Hi Jeff,
        I have ABin5 and use the olive oil recipe on page 134 for most of my focaccias. I also have your pizza book and use the basic dough for focaccias too. I almost always add topping (cheese, etc.) and we always eat it all with no leftovers. I don’t WANT to put my leftovers in the fridge, but worry about room temp/cheese/veggies. That’s my question – focaccias with toppings, are they safe to eat if left on the counter for a day. Thanks Jeff.

      2. Hi Donna,

        Yes, they are safe to sit on the counter for a day or so. If you have meet or eggs on the pizza, then you will want to refrigerate.

        Thanks, Zoë

  9. I cannot see at what temperature the pizzas should be baked. Can you post this in your reply? Your first book says 550degrees with a fan or your highest oven temperature. Is it the same with the minis? Love your books. Have a batch of Olive Oil Dough in refrigerator for 2 days and feel like a pizette tonight!

    1. Same for minis but may take a little less time– thickness, not width is the determinant of oven temperature tolerance.

  10. Its apparent that I should go out and buy your books. TODAY! This looks beautiful and sounds delicious.
    Thanks for sharing.

  11. I have had great results with the master recipe in Artisan Pizza & Flatbread in 5. The whole family loves it!! Tonight for the first time we made pizza with dough I had pre-baked and froze. It worked great. If I make the pre-baked crusts not too big (like the little pizzas in this post), they fit nicely into a freezer zip-loc bag once they are cool. I can’t wait to make up a bunch more to freeze for a supper fast supper that is way WAY better than store-bought frozen pizza (and better than delivery pizza too 🙂

  12. I am making the olive oil dough on page 134 of Artisan Break in 5 Minutes a day and got distracted while counting cups of flour. The dough came out very dry so I think I may have added in an extra cup. Is there anything I can do to salvage it without making a second batch of dough minus a cup of flour and mixing them together? We are a family of 3 so a double batch would be way too much for us to use in any reasonable time frame. I am letting going ahead with the directions now in the hopes it will still be usable. All the other breads I have made have been wonderful. Glad I found this book!

    1. you should be able to just work in enough water with your hands, in a bowl or bucket, to get to the consistency you’re used to. Don’t worry so much about the salt and yeast, which will be a little low for this volume of flour Shouldn’t matter.

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