Mushroom, Onion and Goat Cheese Pizza

Food allergies are considered by a lot of people to be a devastating blow. Having to give up a food, or even an entire food group, can be really hard, especially if it's an allergy that developed later in life. But even children who are born with food allergies have a hard time saying no to foods that their friends get to enjoy. I cannot imagine a life without shellfish, but there are many people who must avoid shellfish at all cost. Only a few months ago, I would not have been able to imagine a life without bread, or everything with gluten in it, for that matter. But rather than being devastated at all that I am giving up, I have looked at eating gluten free as a challenge to figure out how to make all of the delicious foods that usually contain gluten in new ways that I can eat. Fortunately there are a lot of great blogs and cookbooks out there that have already done the work for me to figure out what flours to combine to make dough that tastes and feels like regular dough.

One thing I hated to even think about giving up was pizza. So when I found a recipe for a gluten free pizza crust, I knew I had to try it. The dough tasted pretty good but I need to do some more practice runs before it's worthy of a post. I will work on the dough recipe and do a post on it in the future for anyone interested in gluten free pizza. In the meantime, I will have to come up with creative pizza toppings for my "research." Poor me! For my first gluten free pizza attempt, I combined sweet caramelized onions with tangy goat cheese, which made for a very different and delicious pizza. Feel free to make this pizza on any kind of crust you like. I love Boboli's Whole Wheat pizza crust, available at most grocery stores. The ricotta cheese replaces a traditional tomato sauce but can still be a healthy option by using part-skim ricotta.

Mushroom, Onion and Goat Cheese Pizza

• 1 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 1 small white onion, thinly sliced, about 2 cups
• 1 12" pizza crust
• 1 cup part-skim ricotta
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tbsp lemon juice (from about 1/2 lemon)
• 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
• 4-5 oz mushrooms, sliced (I used shiitake)
• 4 oz goat cheese
• Salt and pepper

Heat about 1/2 tbsp olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat.
Saute onion slices, seasoned with a pinch of salt and pepper, until lightly brown and very soft, about 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 425F (check pizza crust instructions).
In a small bowl, combine ricotta, lemon zest and juice, and thyme leaves. Season with salt and pepper.
Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the pizza crust.
Spread ricotta mixture to about 1/2 inch from edge.
Layer mushroom slices and caramelized onions all over the pizza.
Crumble goat cheese over everything.
Cook for about 10-12 minutes, based on dough being used.

For a printable recipe click here


Mushroom, Onion and Goat Cheese Pizza