french onion soup pizza
The lovechild of a favorite fall soup and a gooey slice of crispy golden carbs. Hell yeah.
With our trip upcoming, we need meals that tide us through a couple days without accumulating mass amounts of leftovers that might be forgotten once we get back Sunday. That’s where pizza is ever handy-dandy.
Our French Onion Soup Pizza is swathed in rich caramelized onions, slowly simmered in wine and broth, then sprinkle with a hefty dose of two cheeses and finished with pretty sprigs of crispy rosemary for an herbal final touch. He’s a bit more involved than other pizzas of mine but the time spent reducing the onions into a sweet, deeply golden mass is well worth the wait required.
Pro tip: during this time, perform some dumb house chores like laundry, wiping off the enameled skillet you forgot to clean three days in a row, and toweling off the kitchen cabinets which have somehow accumulated half a millennia’s worth of grime and fish juice, probably.
Speaking a true anecdote here, kids.
Pardon my French (Onion)
The key to French onion soup is to be fucken patient. I don’t have a lot of that virtue myself, but when it comes to caramelizing onions, I’ve all the time in the damn world to wait.
First, melt some butter in the skillet and crisp up a few rosemary sprigs. These are optional, but serve as such a pretty garnish for your pies.
Slice up a few yellow onions very thin and throw into the pan with some salt and pepper, and white wine. Sherry is traditional but I rarely have that around the house, so I make concessions and use a good ole bottle of chardonnay. Actually it’s kind of a shitty bottle, but whatever.
Simmer for 5 minutes, then start your rotations of beef broth. I use a vegetarian beef broth but regular is fine. Have about 2 1/2 cups at the ready and, every five minutes, pour 1/2 cup of the broth into the pan. Cook it down, stirring occasionally, repeating the process until your broth is used and the onions morph into a jammy, shimmering dark mass of glorious caramelization. You may need up to 35 minute for this process to fully unfold.
Now, it’s all about pizza assembly!
Divide your choice pizza dough in half (I make homemade but store bought is great). Working one ball at a time, roll and punch and toss into a circle and set onto a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. About 10 inches in diameter is a good rule of thumb, I like my crusts fairly thin.
Brush with olive oil and poke a few holes into the center. Bake 5 minutes at 500 degrees to set up the crust.
Put your pie together! Spread some fig preserves on the bottom, then half of the onions. Finish with lots of gruyere and mozzarella cheeses.
Bake for 8-10 minutes until gooey, golden, and lusciously fragrant. Repeat the above steps with your second ball of dough, slice both up, and serve with the crispy rosemary.
If gruyere is hard to find or out of your budget, Swiss cheese is the best substitute, though no, it won’t create an authentic French onion experience. Still tasty, though.
Hope you enjoy your Tuesday! Preferably with this pizza in hand.
Tried this recipe out? Leave a rating and comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
Pizza girl fall:
Rosemary Mushroom Provolone Pizza
Roasted BBQ Butternut Squash Harvest Pizza
Fig Brie and Caramelized Shallot Pizza
french onion soup pizza
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter
- 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 3 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 2 – 2 1/2 cups beef broth (vegetarian or regular)
- 1 lb pizza dough, homemade or store bought
- 1/4 cup fig preserves
- 6 oz gruyere cheese, shredded
- 1 cup low moisture mozzarella cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Sprinkle a large baking sheet with cornmeal.
- Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Throw in the rosemary sprigs and cook 1-2 minutes, flipping once, until crispy. Place onto a paper towel.
- Add the onions, the wine, and a big pinch each of salt and pepper. Stir for 5 minutes until reduced, then, in 5 minute increments, add the beef broth 1/2 cup at a time. Repeat until the onions are deeply caramelized and crispy in spots, stirring occasionally. This will take 25-35 minutes.
- Divide the pizza dough in half. Roll, push, and poke one ball into a roughly 10 inch circle. Set onto the prepared baking sheet, poke a few holes in the center, and brush with a bit of olive oil. Parbake for 5 minutes to set up the crust.
- Spread half of the fig jam over the dough, then half of the onions and half of each cheese. Bake 8-10 minutes until golden and gooey. Repeat with the second ball of dough.
- Slide and serve hot garnished with the crispy rosemary!
