My philosophy about cooking is to get good ingredients and get out of the way.  In other words, look for fresh, simple, delicious flavors, and then you won’t have to work too hard to have a fantastic meal.  When I first made this pizza I used basil from my kitchen garden for the pesto, a pear from Seedling Fruit and raw milk cheddar from Grassfields, an organic cheese operation that sells at the Holland, Mich. farmers market. 

 

 

Of course you can achieve a good result using food from the grocery store, particularly since the market season is finished for this year in most of the country.  Just make sure your pear is ripe and flavorful – they ripen from the inside out so look for a slight “give” when you press near the stem.  Wait until it’s soft and you’ll have complete mush.

 

 

 

 

Pear pizza with red onions and walnut pesto

Makes eight slices

1 loaf frozen bread dough, thawed in the refrigerator

Olive oil for spreading dough

½ cup walnut pesto

1 ripe pear, cored and thinly sliced

½ red onion, thinly sliced, about ½ cup

8 ounces white cheddar, shredded

 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Drizzle the dough with olive oil and spread to form a 12-inch round disk on a baking sheet.  Spread with pesto leaving a one-inch border.  Arrange pear slices in a circle, then arrange onions.  Sprinkle with cheddar.  Bake in the lower third of the oven until the crust is golden and cheese bubbles, about 20 - 25 minutes.

 

Recipe and photo compliments of Janine MacLachlan, www.RusticKitchen.com.   All rights reserved.

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