Pesto, Pear and Gorgonzola Pizza

It was a really busy week last week

with two pizza parties, a birthday dinner,

my daughter in law competing in the

regional yoga competition (and taking

first place so now she is going to 

the National Competition), 

a family sleepover at the cabin

with ski lessons for the little ones

and one 

more dinner party!  Whew!!!

Did I make it through last week?!!

We fired up the pizza oven two nights in a row 

and had around 20 to 25 both nights.

Remember the luscious pizza I told you

about from Hotel California in Cabo?

Well, I made a copy of it,

even running to a couple of stores

to find Mexican Crema to finish

it off with

and I think I made a great rendition of it!

When we remodeled our house

about 9 years ago, we put a wood burning

pizza oven in the kitchen and use it often

for entertaining.  

You could make this pizza on a pizza stone

in your own oven.  The trick is to really take the

hour or more to heat up the stone.  In the pizza

oven, the floor is around 650 - 700 degrees and

the roof of the oven is around 1200 degrees so

the pizza cooks in just minutes.

We love to have everyone make their

own pizzas so we started with this one

as an appetizer to let everyone have a taste

and then they created their own signature pizzas.

(The baked pizza was finished off with

a swirl of Mexican Crema.)

Pesto, Pear and Gorgonzola Pizza

Prepared Pizza Dough

1 sweet onion, sliced and caramelized in a frying pan

1 pear, cored, sliced and pan fried in butter until soft

prepared pesto

gorgonzola cheese (I used Boar's Head)

Mexican Crema (or table cream)

Prepare the pizza dough at least 2 hours ahead.

Let rise, then punch down and shape into

individual balls, cover and let rise again about 30-45

minutes.

Thinly slice and caramelize the onions in a little

oil until tender and evenly caramelized.  Use medium

heat so you don't burn them.

In another frying pan, melt a teaspoon of butter and 

lay the slices of pear in the butter.  Let them cook

for a few minutes until light golden and turn and 

cook the other side.

Shape the ball of dough into a round by

stretching.  Place it onto a well floured pizza peel.

Top it with prepared pesto.  Then lay the cooked

pears around the center forming a circle.  Top

with a circle of gorgonzola cheese and a final

ring of caramelized onion.

Bake on a hot pizza stone (following manufacturer's

directions) until bubbly and brown and crisp on

the bottom.  Remove from heat and top with a swirl

of Mexican Crema (or table cream).

Slice and Enjoy!

Click here for printable recipe.

The mix of the savory pesto, onions and gorgonzola

against the sweetness of the cooked pears and

the creaminess of the Crema really make this

a fabulous pizza.