Homemade Gourmet Brick Oven Pizza

I’ve recently gotten sick and tired of soggy, cold delivery pizza but I don’t always have the time to make pizza dough. The answer to this lies in the in the same pizza parlor that delivers the soggy pizza. I’ve recently found out that most local pizza parlors will sell you their pizza dough and many mega marts also sell pizza dough in their prepared food section. I’ll usually stop on my way home for the dough, heat up my pizza stone and make great homemade pizza at home. You too can make a gourmet, sweet, salty, crisp crust brick-oven pizza in your own oven.

Makes 1 Regular Pizza

Pizza Stone

Unrimmed cookie sheet or Pizza Paddle

1 Regular Pizza Dough*

2 Medium Yellow Onions (sliced ¼” thick)

2 TBS Olive Oil

2 oz Gorgonzola Cheese (shredded) *

2 oz Sargento Part Skim Mozzarella (shredded)

All Purpose Flour

Preheat oven to 450°F for 1 hour with the pizza stone placed in the middle rack. This is critical if you want to mimic the char of a brick oven.

Cut the onion into ¼ inch slices. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the onions and turn the temperature down to medium low. Stirring frequently, cook the onions for 20-30 minutes until they turn a golden brown. Do not walk away or the onions will burn. This slow cooking process caramelizes the sugar in the onions turning them sweet. Let the onions cool for about 10 minutes at room temperature before putting them on the pizza.

Sprinkle the unrimmed cookie sheet or pizza paddle with flour to prevent the pizza dough from sticking. Roll out or stretch your pizza dough to a 12” round. Make sure that the dough easily slides on the cookie sheet or paddle before adding your toppings. You will actually slide your pizza directly onto the hot pizza stone.

Cover your pizza dough with the caramelized onions then top with the shredded mozzarella. Shred the gorgonzola directly onto the pizza. Gorgonzola is so soft that if you shred it ahead of time it will lump together.

Slide the pizza directly onto the hot pizza stone and cook for 7-10 minutes or until the bottom is golden brown. Remove from the oven using the baking sheet or pizza paddle. Let it sit for ~4-5 minutes before you cut it.

Alternative Pizzas

In place of the gorgonzola and caramelized onions you can make a traditional pizza with tomato sauce and mozzarella and any topping you like. However, less is more. Spread a thin layer of sauce before adding the cheese or topping and keep a sauce free edge of at least ½ inch. If you put too much sauce the pizza will be soggy.

* Pronto Substitutes

Pizza Dough – You have two choices here. You can make homemade pizza dough or you can go to your local pizza parlor and buy fresh made dough from them. I’ve found that most local pizzerias will sell you the dough for about $2.50 each.

Gorgonzola Cheese – Substitute Blue cheese or any other strong flavored cheese.

Pizza Stones

I’ve always been a fan of pizza with a crispy crust but I was never able to duplicate this at home. To achieve the crispness of a brick oven pizza you need to preheat a pizza stone for an hour in a very hot oven (450°F-500°F) so that when you slide the pizza onto the stone it does not cool off. If you don’t preheat the stone it will actually slow down the cooking process and lead to a soggy pizza.

To print a copy of this recipe go to Stracciatelle Soup.