Serving Up {Pizza}: Balsamic Pear Pizza

Earlier this week I posted a recipe for a Tomato & Basil Pizza and in doing so shared my culinary pizza adventure as I tried to create a pizza dinner for my family recently, using mainly ingredients from my own garden.  The second pizza I made that evening was this recipe for Balsamic Pear Pizza.  I have enjoyed pear pizza many times in restaurants, so with a pear tree just outside my backdoor I knew that a pear pizza was what I wanted to make that night.

My most memorable pear pizzas have generally been paired with a balsamic flavoring, so as I searched for the perfect recipe I was drawn to this one.  I have also enjoyed pear pizza with Gorgonzola cheese so I experimented a bit, but having made this recipe with a smattering of Gorgonzola as well as without, I have to say that without won it for me so that is how I wrote the recipe.

This pizza was a hit!  So much so that I didn't get as many slices as I would have liked so I was "forced" to make it again later the same week.  I served it the second time to my in laws for lunch and it was voted a hit again so this recipe is definitely a keeper.

One Year Ago: Sally Luna Bread
Two Years Ago: Coconut Chex Mix

BALSAMIC PEAR PIZZA     
(recipe adapted from Inspired Taste)
printable version

1 ball favorite pizza dough (I prefer Trader Joe's)
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 sweet onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4  cup balsamic vinegar
2 Tbs. brown sugar
2-3 pears, ripe but still firm
1 Tbs. lemon juice
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup pecan pieces

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and place pizza stone in the oven to heat as well.
Form pizza dough into a 12-inch circle on large piece of parchment paper, sprinkled with corn meal.  Allow dough to rest.
In a medium sized non-stick frying pan, heat 1 Tbs. of olive oil over medium heat.  Add sliced onions, thyme and salt.  Cook 3-5 minutes or until the onions are soft and beginning to brown.  Add the balsamic vinegar and brown sugar and allow to simmer until the syrup becomes thickened and coats the onions.  Set aside.
Core and thinly slice the pears.  To prevent the pears from browning, sprinkle with lemon juice and gently toss.
Drizzle remaining olive oil over the pizza dough.  Spread onions over the pizza dough.  Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the onions, then place pear slices and top with pecan pieces.
Remove heated pizza stone from the oven and carefully transfer prepared pizza from parchment paper onto pizza stone and place in the oven.  Bake the pizza until crust is cooked and cheese is melted and beginning to bubble - approximately 12 minutes.