Caramelized onion, Bacon and Spinach Pizza

We had some caramelized onions left over from dinner last weekend and I got it in my head that they should go on a pizza. After a bit of digging through the Internet I decided to add some spinach and bacon. I couldn’t decide whether to use a sauce, and if I sauced what kind to use. In the end I opted for no sauce. The result was tasty and filling.

Caramelized onion, Bacon and Spinach Pizza
Servings: 3-4
Prep time: 60 minutes (to let the oven heat mostly)
Total time: 75 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 package store bought pizza dough (see notes)
• 1 cup caramelized onions
• 1 pkg. frozen spinach, thawed
• 1/2 lb. bacon, cut into 1/2″ strips
• 2 cups mixed cheese (see note)
• flour (for rolling out the dough)

Directions:

1. If you have a pizza stone place it in the cold oven. Preheat the oven to 425°F (or 450°F if you have convection). Heat for a total of 1 hour. If you don’t have a pizza stone then just preheat the oven. You can use a baking sheet, which you should line with parchment or spray with cooking spray.
2. When you start heating the oven take the pizza dough from the fridge. Let it sit on the counter so it can warm up a bit; it will be easier to stretch later.
3. While the oven heats saute the bacon to render most of the fat. While it will cook a little bit on the pizza it won’t go from raw to cooked. Transfer the mostly cooked bacon to a double layer of paper towels to drain.
4. Place the thawed spinach in a clean dish cloth and wring out as much liquid as possible. Soggy spinach will lead to a soggy pizza.
5. When your oven has heated up scatter flour on a pizza peel or baking sheet. Stretch the dough with your hands into a rough circle. Place on the floured surface and gently stretch or roll it out. The edges will be thicker than the center and that’s OK.
6. Spread the caramelized onions in a layer on the dough. Scatter the spinach over the onions and then the bacon over the spinach. Cover all of it with shredded cheese. Try to keep all of the ingredients a 1/2″ to 1″ of space from the edge.
7. If you are using a baking sheet then put it in the oven. If you are using the pizza peel & stone we now come to the tricky part. Transfer the pizza to the stone. I can usually make this work by making a jerking motion, like you would when sauteing vegetables in a skillet. Once the edge of the pizza catches the stone the rest should slide off fairly easily.
8. Bake for 15 minutes, rotating 180° if you are using a baking sheet.
9. Remove to a cooling rack and transfer the pizza to a cutting board. Cut into manageable pieces and enjoy.

Notes:
For this recipe I included preheating the oven in the prep time because you really want the pizza stone to get good and hot. There is no need to wait an hour if your are using the baking sheet, just preheat and go.

I used store bought pizza dough here for convenience on a weeknight. You can totally make pizza dough from scratch; it just doesn’t happen for me during the week.

Pizza is a great way to use up the odds and ends of cheese that accumulate in the fridge. The mix tonight included about 50% shredded mozzarella and 35% shredded Parmesan with some grated smoked cheddar we had left over from grilled cheese sandwiches making up the rest.