Tuesday, January 8, 2013

TWD: Pizza with Onion Confit

Tuesdays with Dorie baking through Baking with Julia
Contributing Baker: Steve Sullivan



I was dragging my feet on making this recipe. It did not sound appetizing to me at the time and I am not a big fan of pizza (other than when I'm too tired to go out or cook), even thought of passing on this one altogether.  So glad I didn't! It was delicious!

This is a simple recipe to put together aside from the three hours needed to allow the dough to rise and the onions to cook.

It was hard to decide which toppings to use - so many directions one can go in; some of what the other bakers are suggesting and/or using: olives and goat cheese, figs and bleu cheese, sun dried tomato and herb goat cheese, and my original thought, mushroom and goat cheese.

I happened to be leafing through Fine Cooking magazine (my favorite!) when I came upon a recipe for Arugula, Caramelized Onion, and Gorgonzola Pizza with Fig Jam. Bingo!

I chose to use whole figs rather than the jam which I thought would be too sweet for the onion confit which has a sweetness of its own. I also subbed goat cheese for the gorgonzola only because I had already purchased it.

This pizza was fabulous! I just may make this for our annual Oscar party. :)

Success meter (1-3): 3




The making of "the sponge".
Yeast, water and olive oil.

Add flour gradually (oops..)

Mix and scrape down the sides of the bowl and let rest for one and a half hours till bubbly and doubled in volume.

In the meantime start your engines onions.
The recipe also calls for Crème de Cassis which I didn't think I had.





Sauté your onions till soft.


I did have some! Yay!
Not sure how old it is, but it smelled and tasted OK, so in it went!


Once onions are soft, add the rest of the goodness: thyme, red wine, red wine vinegar (O Cabernet Vinegar is my favorite - so good), and cassis. Simmer for one hour.

Sponge is bubbly and ready!

Deflate sponge by stirring.

Add flour and salt - mix, form into a ball and place in oiled bowl.

Let rest one and a half hours or until doubled in bulk.

Onions are done and delicious!



I rehydrated dried figs by soaking them in boiling water for ten minutes.
I was wanting to use fresh figs (I thought they were in season), but none of my markets had any.


I topped the pizza (after showing off the fig flower) with arugula which is tossed with fresh lemon juice, olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper.


As is the norm with TWD recipes, you will find the original recipe on the blog of our host of the week: Paul of The Boy Can Bake or you can purchase the book Baking with Julia, there you will find the recipe on page 157.

Do make sure and check out my fellow baker's take on this recipe. There are always interesting variations from ingredients to finishing techniques.

26 comments:

  1. Your topping is probably my favorite! Figs, I love them and didn´t think of adding. Glad you liked it so much!

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  2. Wow! Your photos are fantastic! I really enjoyed how you captured each cooking moment with photos. Your pizza looks stunning. Love the fig flower! Glad it was a good recipe!

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  3. I love figs and cheese on pizza. I bet it was delicious.

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  4. This seems wonderful pizza recipe! I got to check it out!

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  5. Arugula, fig, onion -- yum. Seems there were a few bloggers who had the same idea. Great combo. Nice photos.

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  6. your pizza looks wonderful, I love your garnish, onion confit, cheese, figs and arugula: awesome!!!! I really want to try your version!!! Your photos are beautiful! Great job!!!

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  7. I liked this recipe too. Your photos are beautiful.

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  8. Cathleen, wonderful photgraphy of a great looking pizza and all the different steps of preparing the different elements! And I totally agree with you, figs were a fantastic choice for the additional topping!

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  9. Pizza is a food group in our house :-)
    The figs sound great with this! Yum.

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  10. Your pictures are over-the-top fabulous! And figs ... oh my gosh we have two jars of homemade fig jam. Guess there is going to be a "next time" for this recipe because I absolutely have to do the fig and gorgonzola! Thanks Cathleen! Blessings, Catherine www.praycookblog.com

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  11. Figs sound great! Good looking pizza :)

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  12. Sounds amazing. Fine Cooking is my favorite too! Love them. Love love love your step-by-step photos.

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  13. I absolutely love your topping choice! Perfect and gorgeous!

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  14. That sounds delish! I bet the sweet figs were perfect with the onions. Great job!

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  15. You took perfect toppings - great pairing!

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  16. Beautiful process photos. I like your choice of toppings and will have to try them. I really liked the dough and will use this again for pizza nights.

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  17. Love your photography. The addition of figs sounds delicious.

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  18. That is probably the most beautiful pizza I have ever seen. It looks fresh. Beautiful photography!

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  19. THE reason to love pizza...the variations are endless...Great photos here.

    Carmen
    http://bakingismyzen.wordpress.com

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  20. Your toppings are brilliant. Lovely pizza!

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  21. Fantastic photos and your pizza looks absolutely delicious. The figs look so yummy!

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  22. Your pizza looks fabulous. I just ate dinner, but the fig pizza made me hungry again. I love that idea; thanks for passing it on!

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  23. I love figs on pizza. It looks delicious.

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  24. Great looking pizza - as I only used half of my confit in the first round, perhaps I will use the leftovers in combination with some figs!

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  25. Figs! What a great idea! We have several fig trees in our yard. I'm putting this on my list for next summer. And I didn't even think about dressing the arugula. Will try that too. This is what I love about TWD - I get to learn from people who know what they're doing. Thanks!

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  26. Cathleen, so many beautiful pictures (your blog is fabulous!), your pizza looks so appetizing. A shame I did not like mine - really a shame!
    Your post is wonderful and so is your pizza.
    PS: sorry for being so late,

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