Recipe: Pizza to the recue

During this festive season, with its lengthy to-do lists, socializing and houseguests, a simple dinner sandwiched between holiday prep provides a welcome respite.

A recipe that's rustic and easy, with optional shortcuts, is satisfying and comforting and can be enjoyed at the kitchen table or in front of the fire. And guess what? It can also stand in as a low-key appetizer, divvied into small portions and offered to unannounced visitors or lingering houseguests who seem to have misplaced their car keys. 

This is a white pizza, which means there is no tomato sauce. The ingredients on the pizza evoke the mountains, with nutty, alpine cheese and slippery golden onions. For the easiest prep, use a prepared pizza dough. There are many options available in supermarkets of decent quality. This recipe provides instructions for oven-baking, but the pizza can also be prepared on a grill over indirect high heat. 

If you have the time and bandwidth, try the recipe below for homemade dough. It's an adapted recipe from Roberta's, a popular Brooklyn pizzeria, via Sam Sifton at The New York Times. It's easy to make but requires rising time, preferably overnight in the refrigerator. 

For your extra effort, gift yourself with a double recipe and freeze the extras for later use. (Simply defrost the frozen dough overnight in the refrigerator before using.) 

Caramelized Onion and Gruyere Pizza

Active time: 40 minutes

Total time: 1 hour

Yield: Makes one 12- to 14-inch pizza 

Ingredients

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

2 large yellow onions, halved, thinly sliced

Kosher salt

1 large garlic clove, grated

1 ball prepared pizza dough, about 1 pound, defrosted if frozen, at room temperature

1/3 cup packed finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided

1 cup packed grated Gruyere cheese, about 4 ounces

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, plus more for garnish

Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Heat one tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook the onions until they are soft, golden and beginning to caramelize in spots, 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Combine the remaining two tablespoons oil and garlic in a small bowl. Place a pizza stone on the lowest rack in the oven. Heat the oven to its highest setting, about 500 degrees.

Generously dust a pizza peel with flour or line a rimless baking sheet with a piece of parchment. Thinly roll or stretch the dough into a 12- to 14-inch circle or oval (it's OK if it's irregular in shape). Transfer the dough to the peel or the parchment.

Brush the dough with some of the oil, leaving a 1/2-inch border clear. Sprinkle half of the Parmigiano-Reggiano over the oil. Spread the onions over the pizza. Top with the Gruyere and thyme. Sprinkle the remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano over the pizza. Garnish with freshly ground black pepper and lightly season with salt.

Carefully slide the pizza onto the pizza stone. Bake until the toppings begin to char, and the crust is crisp and golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the pizza once for even cooking.

Slide the pizza off the stone and transfer to a cutting board. Immediately brush the border with some of the remaining oil. Garnish with thyme leaves. Let stand for 3 to 5 minutes before cutting into wedges. Serve warm. 

Roberta's Pizza Dough

Active time: 10 minutes

Total time: 25 minutes plus rest and rising time 

Yield: Makes 2 dough balls

Ingredients 

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon (153 grams) 00 flour

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons (153 grams) all-purpose flour 

1 teaspoon (8 grams) fine sea salt 

3/4 teaspoon (2 grams) active dry yeast 

1 teaspoon (4 grams) extra-virgin olive oil 

Directions 

In a large mixing bowl, combine flours and salt. In a small mixing bowl, stir together 200 grams (a little less than one cup) lukewarm tap water, the yeast and the olive oil, then pour it into flour mixture. Knead with your hands until well combined, approximately 3 minutes, then let the mixture rest for 15 minutes. 

Knead rested dough for 3 minutes. Cut into two equal pieces and shape each into a ball. Place on a heavily floured surface, cover with dampened cloth, and let rest and rise for 3 to 4 hours at room temperature or for 8 to 24 hours in the refrigerator. (If you refrigerate the dough, remove it 30 to 45 minutes before you begin to shape it for pizza.)

To make pizza, place each dough ball on a heavily floured surface and use your fingers to stretch it, then your hands to shape it into rounds or squares. Top and bake.

Lynda Balslev is an award-winning writer, cookbook author, and recipe developer based in northern California. Visit TasteFood at TasteFoodblog.com.