Pizza Cipolla | Onion Pizza

When I tasted this Pizza Cipolla, I had one of those jump up and down, "oh-em-gee this is so freaking good" moments.

I kind of suspected it would be good when it was baking, because the aroma coming from my oven was spectacular.

This pizza is super thin and crispy. The dough is mixed by hand, and requires very little effort to make. While this pizza appears to be a simple flatbread topped with onions, it is far from simple tasting.

The onions are tossed in heavy cream and seasoned with salt and fresh thyme, and the resulting flavor is incredible. This crust recipe is definitely going to be my "go-to" for flat bread pizza.

The crust itself is cracker thin, but holds up well to the onion topping.

I love this pizza. It's an amazing appetizer or lunch. I am not ashamed to admit that had leftovers for breakfast. Two days in a row.

This bread is crunchy crisp, crisp, crisp!! And if you're one of those people who is skeptical about onions, I encourage you to give this a chance. After baking, the onions transform into roasted sweet deliciousness.

The theme for this month's #BreadBakers is Summer Bounty! I received a huge bounty of onions from my cousin, with which I've been cooking and baking all month long. After the recipe, check out all of the Summer Bounty links from my fellow #BreadBakers.

Pizza Cipolla Recipe

Ingredients

Crust

250 grams (about 1 3/4 cups plus) bread flour

5 grams (1 1/4 tsp) instant yeast

2.5 grams (3/8 tsp) salt

1.5 grams (generous 3/8 tsp) sugar

150 grams (2/3 cup) room temperature water

Extra virgin olive oil

Onion Topping

2 medium onions (I used white onions)

1/3 cup heavy cream 

1 tsp salt

2 tsp chopped fresh thyme

Instructions

1. Whisk the dry ingredients for the crust together in a medium bowl. Add the water and mix it into the dough with a dough whisk or your hands until all of the flour is incorporated, no more than a minute. 
2. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit until doubled, about 2 hours. 
3. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. If you have a baking stone, place it on the middle rack. 
4. When the dough is ready, drizzle about 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a half sheet pan and spread it with your hands to coat the pan. 
5. Place the dough in the half sheet pan, and stretch it out to a long column to fit the middle of the pan. With your fingers, begin to press the dough to the sides of the pan. This may take awhile. When the dough resists your efforts, let it rest for a bit while you work on the topping. Eventually, your dough should just about cover the entire pan. 
6. Slice the onions into 1/8 inch slices. A mandoline slicer makes this super easy. 
7. Place the onions into a medium bowl, add the cream, salt, and thyme, and toss together to coat the onions. 
8. Evenly top the crust with the onions, making sure they cover the crust from edge to edge. 
9. Bake the pizza for 30 to 35 minutes, until everything begins to turn golden and the crust begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Recipe slightly adapted from Jim Lahey's My Bread. 

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.

Breads using Summer Bounty

• Cheddar Mielie Bread with Sun-Dried Tomatoes from Food Lust People Love
• Eggless Rosemary Garlic Dinner Rolls from Spill the Spices
• Herbed Butterflaps from Sneha's Recipe
• Peach & Blueberry Meringue Pull Apart Bread from Passion Kneaded
• Peach Pull-Apart Bread from Recipes, Food and Cooking
• Peaches and Cream Bread from Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Rosemary and Garlic Fougasse from Spice Roots
• Studded Zucchini Yeast Bread from What Smells So Good?
• Tomato, Onion, Parmesan Focaccia from Noshing With The Nolands
• Zucchini/Jalapeño/Cheese Corn Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm