Day 12: Goat Cheese Pizza with Red Onions and Green Olives

Ahem.  You've probably noticed that there was no entry for Friday.  That's because I was sick, and did not make dinner.  In case you're wondering, I am still planning on making 50 recipes in 50 days.  I'll just have to double up on the recipes until I work off the days I missed.

Okay, I've put the Orzo recipe on the back burner because I had scheduled to make pizza today, and I didn't want to miss out on pizza.  Tonight's dinner comes from The Greens Cook Book.  I made Goat Cheese Pizza with Red Onions and Green Olives.  I had originally planned on using the second ball of pizza dough I made for last Saturday's dinner, but since my son and his girlfriend were joining us I decided to go ahead and make a  two pizza batch of dough.

I used the first ball of dough for the Goat Cheese Pizza.  With the second ball of pizza dough I tried to reinvent a potato and spinach pizza I tried at The Harmon Tap Room , and it turned out pretty well.  Maybe after this 50 in 50 challenge I'll try making it again, and post the recipe then.

Goat Cheese Pizza with Red Onion and Green Olives
The Greens Cook Book
Yield:  one 12 inch pizza

1/2 recipe Pizza Dough (one ball of dough)
3 tbsp virgin olive oil
2 small red onions, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Salt
Pepper
2 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated or thinly sliced
4 ounces goat cheese
12 to 18 Nicoise or California green olives, pitted and halved
2 sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, cut into narrow strips
Fresh herbs: mostly parsley and thyme with some rosemary, finely chopped

Place pizza stone in oven (if using) and preheat oven to 500

     Prepare the pizza dough and set it aside to rise in a warm place.
     Heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil in a wide skillet and saute the onions for 3 minutes, or until they turn translucent.  Add the garlic, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, lower the heat, and continue to cook for another 3 minutes.  Check the seasoning and set the onions aside.
     Shape the dough, and place it on a well-floured peel or pizza pan.  Brush it with olive oil, and cover it with the sauteed onions and the mozzarella cheese.  Distribute the lumps of the soft goat cheese, the olives, and the sun-dried tomatoes over the pizza.
     Slide the pizza onto the stone or bake it on it's pan in the upper third of the oven for about 8 to 12 minutes, or until the edges and bottoms are well browned.  Remove it from the oven and sprinkle it with fresh herbs.

Variation:  Rather than sprinkling the pizza with herbs after baking, finish with Pesto.

What's for dinner tomorrow?  Perfect Roast Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Spinach.  Although in order to catch up a bit on my missed days I'll be substituting the mashed potatoes with Millet-Cauliflower "Mashed Potatoes" from The New Whole Grains Cookbook.  I used the word "substituting", but I guess I could have typed "replacing" instead.

Speaking of substituting, a friend of mine called me on the carpet for my seeming inability to use all of the ingredients as listed in the recipe.  She felt that if my goal was to try 50 recipes in 50 days that I should use the exact ingredients called for in the recipe.  Being a good friend I listened to her criticism, thought about it for a bit, and then decided that she was...WRONG!  My substitutions were either sanctioned by the recipe itself, or a minor substitution of, say, a dried herb instead of a fresh herb, but I do appreciate her input.