Apple and Caramelized Onion Pizza

First, thank you to everyone who commented on their mom's best dishes, it was a lot of fun reading about those. I made my mom guess the five foods I listed (since she rarely reads this blog), and she got most of them right away, although the corned beef and cabbage threw her off. After blogging about all the good food my mom makes on Monday, Monday night I got to make dinner for my mom and dad for the first time in my apartment! They came down to visit for Veteran's Day, and we went to Mt. Vernon and this amazing cheese store in Del Ray called Cheesetique, which I will have to write more about later.

Monday night for dinner I made this apple and caramelized onion pizza with cream of mushroom soup (coming soon!) and salad. The meal turned out really delicious, and everyone liked the pizza, especially the caramelized onions. My mom and Nic both told me that it would have been better with Gorgonzola cheese instead of cheddar, and although I hate to admit when either of them are right, I think it might be true. You couldn't really taste the flavor of the cheddar even though it was sharp because the apples and caramelized onions had such a strong taste. The original recipe didn't call for caramelized onions, but they definitely made the pizza much more interesting than it would have been with just apples. They also made it feel more like a savory dish as opposed to a dessert. And of course, I love anything you can make with puff pastry because it means I don't have to struggle with making my own dough. I will definitely be making some variation on this next time I have company over.

Apple and Caramelized Onion Pizza
Adapted from Gourmet

Ingredients:
1 frozen puff pastry sheet, thawed and rolled out to 15X12 inches
2 tbs. bread crumbs
3 1/2 tbs. butter, divided
3 medium apples, cored and thinly sliced
3 tbs. sugar
dash of salt
2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
1 cup grated sharp white cheddar (or substitute Gorgonzola)

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
-Melt 2 tbs. butter on medium-low heat in a skillet. Add onions and cover. Cook over medium-low heat covered for 25-30 minutes or until the onions are a dark caramelized color. Try not to lift the lid often.
-Roll out the puff pastry on a flour surface with a floured rolling pin. Transfer to baking sheet and poke holes in the surface with a fork. Sprinkle the dough with breadcrumbs.
-Combine apples with 1 1/2 tbs. melted butter, then add sugar and salt and mix.
-Spread thin layer of apples on dough, leaving a one inch margin around all of the sides. Fold the puffy pastry edges up and over the edge of the apples.
-Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until apples are tender. Spread the caramelized onions on top of the apples then sprinkle with cheese and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes, until the cheese is slightly browned and bubbly.