Rev: Carmelized Onion, Spinach, and Bacon Pizza April 03

[britneyelise]

I made this today and it is a definite keeper. The portions are generous, although both my parents had 3 slices a piece! It is however a lot of steps:
make the dough
make the white sauce
cook the bacon
wilt the spinach
carmelize the onion....

but so worth it.

my father is the biggest suprise of all. He looked at it and went: "what is that green s*** on there? I don't eat that stuff", then after trying it, he went back for seconds, and thirds, and now I think he is on his fourth piece!

I served it with the Roasted Onion-Garlic Soup (already reviewed on another thread, pretty good)

and the mother of all white trash desserts "the Strawberry Pretzel Salad", as a special request from my dad. I was shocked at how good this was.

[Kayla]

Hi Shannon,

Thanks for the review - it sounds like something I could get MY dad to try too :)

Kayla

[valchemist]

I thought this sounded very good, but you are right, it wouldn't be a good quick weeknight meal. Sounds like something to do if you have time on your hands (which I usually don't). Thank you for the review! I am glad it was worth the effort and that your family enjoyed it. :)

I have seen recipes for strawberry pretzel salad, but would you mind posting your version? I have tasted it, but I have never made it. It is yummy!

[claire797]

Originally posted by britneyelise


my father is the biggest suprise of all. He looked at it and went: "what is that green s*** on there? I don't eat that stuff", then after trying it, he went back for seconds, and thirds, and now I think he is on his fourth piece!


Wait. That must be my dad.

[Zinnia]

Shannon,
I loved this recipe so much I ate 3 pieces myself:o . I agree it is a bit time consuming but well worth it. That is so great that you got your Dad to eat spinach-and he liked it, lol.
Like Val, I would love for you to post that strawberry salad recipe if you could. I have never even heard of it, but it sounds good. Thanks, :) Zinnia

[claire797]

I don't know if this is the one Shannon used, but look at all the reviews is received on allrecipes!

http://salad.allrecipes.com/az/judysstrawberrypretzelsala.asp

[vjc]

Could someone please clue me in... I just got the magazine yesterday and haven't had a chance to look through it yet. I'm looking at the index and can't find anything with "Pizza" in it except "Whole Wheat Pizza Dough" on page 266. My magazine only goes to page 234!?!? Am I missing something (or a lot )?
It's 8:00 AM and that's not that early for me. I feel like I'm having a bad dream!!

[valchemist]

they listed it under the pork section. it is on page 123.

[valchemist]

Originally posted by claire797
I don't know if this is the one Shannon used, but look at all the reviews is received on allrecipes!

http://salad.allrecipes.com/az/judysstrawberrypretzelsala.asp

the one I tasted didn't have jello. but most recipes that I have seen do have jello.

[britneyelise]

Here is the strawberry pretzel salad I used. Sherry posted it on another thread a while ago. The difference between this one and the one from allrecipes is that this one has less cream cheese I think. It also has jello. Verrrryyyy yummmmmmmy. Make sure to use pretzels with salt. It provides a great taste contrast.


Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Crust layer:
1 cup crushed pretzels (I guess-timated this, I think I used a bit more)
1 Stick butter, melted
3 tbsp sugar

1. Mix together and press into a 9 by 13 inch pan. Bake for 10 minutes at 350.

Middle Layer:
1 block cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat, it's all I had)
1 small carton Cool Whip (Again I used light because it was all I had)
1 cup sugar, (I used slightly less)

Combine cream cheese and sugar until smooth, then add Cool whip.
Spread over cooled pretzel crust. Chill while preparing topping, until cold.

Topping:
1 Lg. Box Strawberry Jellos
2 cups hot water
1/2 cup cold water
1 bag frozen strawberry halves

Mix jello with hot water until dissolved, add cold water and frozen strawberries. Stir until it begins to set and thicken. Pour over middle layer. Refrigerate until set.

[Zinnia]

Shannon,
Thanks for posting that strawberry salad recipe. That looks so heavenly!
:) Zinnia

[claire797]

Originally posted by Zinnia
Shannon,
Thanks for posting that strawberry salad recipe. That looks so heavenly!
:) Zinnia

Yes. Thanks.

Now I wonder if I put Cool Whip on top of some chocolate chip cookies if I could call it "Chocolate Chip Cookie Salad" and serve it as an appetizer or side dish ;).

[lindrusso]

I'm so glad to see this review. I couldn't figure out what kind of pizza to make today - I only had a brief chance to go through the March CL but now I do remember drooling over this pizza. I think I have all the ingredients - woohoo! I've been in a rut with pizzas lately, so I will be quite happy to try something different.

Alysha

[Jessica]

Originally posted by britneyelise
He looked at it and went: "what is that green s*** on there? I don't eat that stuff", then after trying it, he went back for seconds, and thirds, and now I think he is on his fourth piece!


LOL. That sounds like my DH, minus the curse words. Maybe I can get him to try this pizza...

[lindrusso]

Oh YUM! :) We loved this one!

The only thing I don't get about the recipe is the cooking time and where to place the pizza in the oven. I did not make the dough in the recipe, but if you cook any 12-inch pizza on the bottom rack of the oven (which is the usual way to cook a pizza) at 475º for 20 minutes, I can't imagine that you'd end up with anything but a burned crust!

I used a frozen pizza dough that was probably larger in volume than the dough the recipe makes - however I stretched it onto a 14-inch pan, so I figure the thickness in crust was similar to the recipe.

I baked it on the bottom rack for 12 minutes, as I usually do, at 450º, then I took it out, added the bacon and Parmesan and cooked it another 5 minutes in the middle of the oven. The crust was not overdone, but it was about as brown as I would like it to get.

So, other than what I thought were confusing cooking instructions, this pizza was great. Very indulgent, but the calories reflect that at over 500 calories per serving. And as others stated, it's not a quick and easy recipe (and I didn't even make the dough!), but worth it if you have the time.

Alysha :)

[melis104]

Thanks for the review. I'm definitely going to try it.

[lindrusso]

A couple of other things I forgot to mention...

In the directions it said to sautee the spinach in the bacon drippings. However, it seemed more logical to me to sautee the onions in the bacon drippings (onions + bacon = yum! :) ), so that's what I did. Then I put a bit of water in the pan and wilted the spinach. Not a big change, but the thought of oily spinach did not appeal to me at all! I also used less than the 2 teaspoons called for.

FYI - I used skim milk for the sauce and it worked fine (except for the lumps - I need to remember that it almost always works best to whisk the flour into the milk before you begin to heat it).

[JenZen]

Wonderful recipe.

I saved this for a Saturday project, because I knew it was going to be time consuming.

SO rates it a B+++. He said it would have been an A- if it had more garlic in the white sauce. I agreed with this. I only used one clove, and I think it could benefit from an extra boost.

I baked the pizza for 20 minutes in the middle of the oven without problem.

Oh, if you make this, layer the onions first. I blackened a few because they were on top of the pizza during cooking.

[leightx]

Would someone mind posting this one, pretty please??? I'm putting off buying April from the newstand, since my subsciption should be coming ANY DAY NOW!!!! :rolleyes: I sent it in back in early Feb...

Thanks a million!!! :D

[leightx]

Bumping up again - I finally broke down and bought April (I'm sure I'll finally get my subscription in the mail tomorrow :rolleyes: )

This was wonderful!! I didn't do their crust - DH loves the whole wheat one Val posted a while back (from Eating Well I think? I can post if anyone needs it). So we did that, but kept the toppings the same. I wasn't terribly crazy about the white sauce - it was a little sweet, but maybe that's because I used skim instead of 2%? I don't know - it was just kind of blah. It needed something, but I'm not sure what. Anyway, I also skipped the parmesan and put some small spoonfuls of goat cheese all over, since I just bought a big log of it from Costco. YUM!! I would definitely do that again, in place of the parmesan. It was delicious. Oh, and we cooked it on the Big Green Egg (our grill) at 650 for about 5-6 minutes.

Overall I'd give this an 8/10. It would be a 10 with a better white sauce.

Someone else posted that this one took forever - I'd try that pizza crust that Val posted - I started making it before I did anything else, and by the time I had all the ingredients together it was ready. All in all, it took me 45 minutes to get everything onto the grill. It would probably go more quickly the next time, now that I know what I'm doing.

[greysangel]

For pizza, this is a wow in my book :cool: Perfect.

I'm glad I read the reviews prior to making it though. I was able to do a couple things differently that I believe enhanced the flavors.

1)I too used the Eating Well WW pizza crust - it is IMO the perfect crust.
2)I didn't save any drippings other than the residue on the pan after pouring off the grease(which was probably enough!) and sauted the onions in that pan.
3)I wilted the spinach separately and did the sauce while the onions were cooking down
4)I used four cloves of garlic along with salt and pepper. The white sauce was fantastic I thought. I honestly believe they use 2% for a reason here and I would not sub with skim.


I had this meal on my "free" night because I didn't want to lighten it further and it's kind of up there in the calorie and fat and carb dept. I will say it's totally worth the prep and worth the try...so far this is the real winner for the April issue for me. You could lighten it further using skim milk, turkey bacon etc..but like I said I think this recipe works the best with the thick sliced bacon and the butter and milk in the white sauce.

The only thing I would do differently next time is squeeze the spinach completely. I think I tried to do it while it was still too warm and didn't get all the juice out..therefore the crust wasn't as crispy as I like it :D

Wonderful! Even DH loved it and to him a pizza is not a pizza without marinara :D

JeAnne

[scrappycat]

My daughters made this Friday night, while I was bowling. So, I didn't get to see them prepare it, but it was so yummy! I thought the white sauce was wonderful. We all thought it sort of gave it a bisquit and gravy type feel. We will definitely have this again, and probably try it with some goat cheese.
Pam

[leightx]

JeAnne - I'd have to agree with you on the Eating Well WW crust - it's our favorite too (although I'm still on a quest for a chewy, thicker white crust). I like the order that you did things - I used the center cut bacon and there wasn't much in the way of drippings, but I think I'll do the onions in the bacon drippings next time and wilt the spinach in the microwave to save time / pans.

About that tricky white sauce...I'll definitely try using 2% next time (or would adding more butter do the trick? we don't usually have 2% on hand). But did anyone else have trouble with the lumps?!? I was getting tried of hearing "screech screech" on my nonstick pan as I whisked, so I finally got frustrated and dumped it into a plastic bowl, whisked the h*ll out of it, and dumped it back in the pan. It was still lumpy. I was careful to slowly add the milk, whisking the whole time, etc. Does anyone have any tips??

Scrappycat - lucky you having the girls cook for you!!! You must have them trained well! ;) :D

[Terrytx]

I sort of made this last night, but I have a confession to make. I also like the EW crust and was working away on it. It just didn't feel right for some reason. Rolled it out and got the toppings on. Told the DH that I felt like I had done something wrong, it just didn't seem right (this is the only crust recipe I have ever made with any success).

DH: "Maybe the yeast was old"
me: no, it wasn't. (to the cabinet to pull out a packet)...but wait a minute. There are 2 packets still there :( "OMG I forgot the yeast :eek: "

We ate it anyway and it was still really good, even on "flat bread"

[emily]

LOL - Terry that sounds like something I would do! Ha.

Leigh - did you ever get a chance to try the crust from the Turkish Pizza in the 4/02 CL? It has a wonderful, thick, chewy crust.

Emily

[leightx]

Emily - I did use that crust on my ill-fated pizza dinner club and I really liked it, but I think it needed more of something - salt, maybe? It just didn't have much flavor! I think with some tinkering, it would be really good. I loved the texture of it!

[Ralph]

Made this today/tonight, and I'll have to agree that it was quite labor-intensive - one of the most complicated recipes I've made in a while!

Nevertheless, it was GREAT! Unfortunately, I think the crust got a bit overdone - I baked it for the prescribed amount of time - and I thought the crust (not the rest of the pizza) was quite bland (maybe because it had no oil or butter?). I should have followed the suggestions to use pre-made frozen or refrigerated pizza dough.

[misstapioca]

Well I was having a nice quiet night at home watching Buffy dvds I had the dough rising in the laundry room with the dryer on. Phone rings.... It's a cute guy I'm kinda dating he is headed from Dallas in my direction and wants to know if I want to meet him for drinks. Oh well there goes my nice quiet night making pizza, but wait the dough can be put in the fridge right? I put it in the fridge along with the cooked spinach, onions,bacon and white sauce(lumpy) and proceed to get ready for my date. After my friend and I come back to my house to hang out and watch more Buffy he notices the counter with flour spread on it in a circular shape and appears shocked to find out that I made my pizza dough from scratch. Well he proceeds to roll out the dough, perfectly I might add. I try to thin out & de-lump the white sauce. He does not want the bacon and all those onions on the pizza and goes through my fridge looking for more veggies. We end up with cremini mushrooms and roasted red peppers. Shredded provolone with just a few tbsp of the parmesan cheese. Baked for the prescribed amt of time. bell goes off on the oven before this guy can make it to 1st base :D . I exclaim how wonderful it looks and he says "it's all in the crust, what a beautiful crust(and some other stuff in french I dont understand). What an fun date!

[tbear1923]

I just wanted to bump this up since I just got around to making it the other night. I have to say it was a fantastic pizza and well worth the time (I didn't think it was really that time consuming).
I did make some major revisions though since I thought there weren't enough flavor in the toppings...
1) I didn't use the drippings in the spinach, just wilted them with a little water...also used more than just 9oz.
2) I used just a tiny bit of drippings for the onions and used Vidalia- also more than they called for.
3) I used 3-4 garlic cloves since I knew they were just kidding with the mention of only one....thought they could fool me....
4) I used 1% milk and didn't have any lumps, the sauce was great.
5) Since I didn't use many drippings I added just a little bit more crumbled bacon.
6) When it came time to put the bacon on, I dropped (by Tbs) low fat Ricotta cheese then sprinkled on fat free Feta cheese with the bacon. Then broiled until bubbly. Sprinkled only a teensy bit of parm on.

I know that is more calories etc than the original but it was so yummy and with the crust so thick I only ate 2 and was full. Very worth it!!!!