For whatever reason, I’ve never shared this recipe before even though it’s one of my ultimate (we’re talking potential favorite) pizzas. I originally made it when a vegan friend was spending the week on my couch, and I wanted there to be plenty of food around to welcome him (so half of the pizza is cheese-less). I’m not sure what I like about this recipe more: the sweet onions contrasting with the spunky cheese? The soft homemade crust with that crunch of pecan? Maybe it’s just the fact that there’s a pizza cooling in the kitchen that has no marinara and no stretchy cheese, but still manages to taste incredible. Just sayin.

Note: I used homemade garlic scape pesto in the photo, which makes it more organic and chunky, but use whatever pesto you prefer. Also feel free to swap out the pecans for walnuts or the gorgonzola for blue cheese if thats what you’re feeling. And while it may seem like making the onion relish is somewhat intensive, I double the batch and keep some in the fridge for topping on toast, tossing in pasta, or sautéeing with (gasp!) dried fruit for a crostini.

The Ol’ Standby Pizza Crust

Makes enough for one 10-11″ thin crust pizza. For a more doughy crust, double the recipe or roll the pizza out to only a 8-9″ pizza.

• 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup lukewarm water (may need up to 1 or 2 tablespoons more)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Stir together the dry ingredients, including yeast, in a large bowl. Add water and olive oil, stirring mixture into as close to a ball as you can. Dump all clumps and floury bits onto a lightly floured surface and knead everything into a homogeneous ball. Knead it for just a minute or two.

Lightly oil/butter the bowl where you had mixed it — one-bowl recipe! — dump the dough in, turn it over so all sides are coated, cover it in plastic wrap and leave it undisturbed for an hour or two, until it has doubled in size.

Dump it back on the floured counter and gently press the air out of the dough with the palm of your hands. Fold the piece into an approximate ball shape, and let it sit under that plastic wrap for 20 more minutes.

Sprinkle a pizza stone or baking sheet with cornmeal and then roll out the dough on a floured surface into a 10-11″ circle. Lay the crust onto your baking sheet and put on the toppings below.

I doubled the batch and froze one crust. This works great, but beware that the thawing takes patience. if you choose to speed up the process in the microwave or oven, you risk damaging the fluffiness of the dough.

Pesto Pizza Toppings