Artichoke & Caramelized Onion Pizza

It's almost Friday and you know what that calls for?? PIZZA! Well, at least in my mind, Fridays = pizza day. So why not make a gourmet pizza for yourself to celebrate the end of another week? There's no need to spend money when all you need to do is spend a little time in your kitchen. Easier said than done, I know. Not everyone has Will in their kitchen like I do. But that doesn't mean this is an impossible dish. If you really wanted to make it easier, you could even buy a pre-made dough and then top it with all these ingredients to achieve the same results. But I can assure you from many years of homemade-pizza-dough-making, it's not as intimidating as it sounds. I have been known to do it, which as you know, means it can't be that difficult.


With Fridays and pizza also comes the celebration of the weekend. Last weekend, we kept it pretty low-key doing a free 5K at Point Defiance Park through a running group Will found. We then hung out at Owen Beach for a bit to ogle Mt. Rainier before driving home along the waterfront to relax. This coming weekend, we're a little busier with a variety of activities. Saturday morning, we'll be up and at a bar by 4:30 AM to watch the Spurs first game of the EPL season. Then we'll come home and nap before heading into Seattle to see a friend and to go to a Bernie Sanders rally. Then on Sunday, I'll be going to the humane society's volunteer training program and then we will probably spend the rest of the day in the kitchen prepping our food for the week, maybe throwing in a yoga class for kicks and giggles. Because why not combine those activities into the same weekend? Anywho, we're hoping to power through Thursday and Friday to get to our all-over-the-place weekend, just like I'm sure you are too. So treat yo'self to a pizza and enjoy!

Cooking Notes: We used more feta than the recipe called for, because why wouldn't we? Otherwise, we pretty much left this recipe alone!

Artichoke & Caramelized Onion Pizza (adapted from Budget Bytes; serves 6)
Dough
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp instant yeast
3/4 - 1 cup water
Onions
3 yellow onions
2 tbsp butter
Toppings
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning
1/4 lb. frozen spinach
7 oz. artichoke hearts
4 oz. feta cheese

Make the dough the night before. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt and yeast until evenly combined, then add water slowly. Start with 3/4 cup, adding more as needed, stirring until a sticky, shaggy ball of dough forms. Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature for 12-24 hours.

The day you want the pizza (and the dough is prepped), start with caramelizing the onions. Thinly slice three onions and place them in a large skillet with 2 tbsp of butter. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally for an hour or so, until they are very soft and turn a deep golden brown.

Towards the end of the time the onions are cooking, begin to preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with foil, then spread 1 tbsp olive oil over the surface. Sprinkle the dough with flour to prevent it from sticking to you, then scrape it out of the bowl and onto a floured surface, flattening into a disc. Continue to stretch and press the dough until it's a large rectangular flatbread shape, approximately 1/4" thick. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet to continue stretching and pulling until final shape is achieved.

Brush the remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil on the dough, then sprinkle with 1/2 tbsp of Italian seasoning blend. Thaw the spinach in the microwave (about 1 minute on high), then carefully squeeze out as much water as possible using a strainer. Chop the artichoke hearts into bite-sized pieces. Top the pizza in this order: caramelized onions, spinach, chopped artichoke hearts, and crumbled feta. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the edges of the crust are golden brown. Broil on high for 1-2 minutes to really crisp the edges. Let cool for a minute, then slice, serve and enjoy!

Recipe: Budget Bytes: Caramelized Onion and Artichoke Flatbread