Caramelized Onion Pizza Crust Recipe

The recipe makes four medium size pizzas.

Course: bread, dinner, Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: American, Italian

Keyword: caramelized onion pizza crust, homemade pizza crust, pizza crust

Author: Hani

1 cup warm water (240ml)
1/3 cup warm milk (80ml)
1/2 tbsp honey
2 ¼ tsp dry yeast
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cups All-purpose flour (560 grams), bread flour, or half all-purpose and half-bread flour.
1 tsp salt

2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp dry basil
3 to 4 cups fresh cauliflower, broken into small florets or sliced broken into small florets, or sliced
2 medium-sized red Bell Peppers (roasted, skin peeled and sliced
8 to 10 rounds of ham, or shreds of chicken, pork
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese
1/2 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
ground pepper and salt to taste

Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet, add diced onions (1 cup), and saute until golden brown, about 5-8 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.
In a small bowl, stir together warm water (1 cup, 240 ml), warm milk (1/3 cup, 80 ml), and honey (1/2 tablespoon). Whisk in dry yeast (one packet, or 2¼ teaspoons) and one tablespoon of flour. Let sit for 5 minutes until foamy on the top.
Pour flour (4 cups, 560 grams) into the bowl of your stand mixer, add salt, and stir. Make a well in the center, and pour in olive oil (2 tablespoons), and foamy yeast sponge. Add cooled caramelized onion. Stir to combine. If the mixture appears very dry add a little more warm water (1 to 2 tablespoons)
Use a hook attachment, and knead the dough until it comes together and slightly pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Doesn't have to form a ball in the mixer.
Dump the dough onto a flour-dusted work surface. Knead the dough for 30 seconds to one minute until you form a nice ball.

Oil the inside of a large clean bowl. Place the dough inside. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel. Let rise at the warm spot for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until doubled in volume, or 8-48 hours in the fridge. Remove it from the fridge 45 minutes before shaping the pizza.
Invert the risen dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into four equal pieces.
Knead each piece to form a ball. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes to relax the gluten before shaping.

Flatten each ball using your hands and fingertips, about 1/2 inch thick or thinner.
Place each pizza round on parchment paper brushed with olive oil.

Brush each pizza with little olive oil and sprinkle dry basil all over. Press the basil into the dough with your fingers. Add your favorite toppings.
In a bowl, stir cauliflower florets (3-4 cups) and Parmesan cheese (1/4 cup), season with salt, fresh pepper, and freshly grated nutmeg.
Layer toppings: ham or other meat, cauliflower cheese mixture, and roasted red pepper slices. Sprinkle with mozzarella.

Let rise for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 425F (220C). Also, place one large baking sheet into the oven while the oven is preheating. If you have a cast iron pan or pizza stone, you can use that.

Once the oven is preheated remove the hot baking sheet from the oven and transfer pizza onto the sheet. Be careful to handle the baking sheet it will be hot! You should be able to fit two pizzas per baking sheet.
Bake pizzas for 15-20 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and cheese is all melted.
Remove from the oven, transfer baked pizzas to a plate or a cutting board, and transfer unbaked pizzas onto the baking sheet and bake off the remaining pizzas.

Can I use any all-purpose flour? I like King Arthur All-Purpose Flour (11.7% protein). Use flour with a protein content above 10%.