I am dining on my own tonight, so thought I would make myself a pizza! My Mom’s pizza dough is super simple, and I have everything I need to make it. I have to go pick up my dog from daycare, so that will give me about an hour for the dough to rise – perfect! I love pizza from California Pizza Kitchen, and my favorite on their menu used to be a pear and gongonzola pizza. It had really unique flavors, and although the ingredients may sound a little “out there” – it really is delicious! It has an olive oil base, topped with mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced fresh pears, and chopped hazelnuts. Once removed from the oven, it is sprinkled with crumbled gorgonzola cheese, and topped with mixed salad greens, that were tossed with some chunky blue cheese dressing. The pears give it a mild sweetness, that really goes well with the gorgonzola cheese. Just like my prior post for Charley’s Pizza Salad, there is just something unbelievably yummy about a salad on top of a pizza! The dressing on the pizza adds such great flavor! Just like so many things that become my favorites , this pizza is no longer on the menu at CPK. But it is on the menu at my house!! This came out pretty darn close to that pizza!
You will need:
Pizza dough
olive oil
2 fresh pears
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Oregano
garlic powder
Fresh ground black pepper
Chopped hazelnuts
fresh mixed salad greens
Blue cheese dressing
crumbled gorgonzola cheese
My Mom’s pizza dough recipe:
Dissolve:
1 1/4 c warm water (not scalding)
1 pkg yeast
pinch of salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
Add:
3 c flour (all purpose)
My Mom used to make this dough by hand, and you can too!! It does require some kneading to get the dough to come together smoothly. I have adapted the technique by using my stand mixer with the dough hook attachment to do the kneading for me. This makes a beautifully smooth dough with very little effort, in about 5-7 minutes.
Let rise covered, in a warm location, for about 1 hour. The recipe will make 1 thicker crust pizza, or 2 thin crust pizzas.
Spread each pizza pan with olive oil. Spread dough on pan(s) to desired thickness. I like to make this a thin crust pizza, so I use only 1/2 of this dough recipe. The other 1/2 can be placed in a ziplock baggie, and frozen for several weeks.
Drizzle olive oil over the dough, sprinkle with garlic powder, and oregano. Top with shredded mozzarella cheese. Slice fresh pears thinly, and place on top of cheese in a circle pattern around the pizza. (I kept the skin on the pears, but you can peel them if you prefer). Sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts.
Bake in a 350 degree oven, for 25 – 30 min.
Top hot pizza with crumbled gorgonzola cheese and fresh ground black pepper. Toss salad greens with blue cheese dressing, and pile onto the center of the pizza. Like a little more dressing? Go ahead and drizzle it over the pizza. So pretty!
