To simplify this recipe and cut down on preparation time, use your favorite store-bought tomato sauce and/or buy pre-made dough.
Tonight I’m volunteering at Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation in Washington DC. I attended last year and it’s a great event for an important cause. Taste of the Nation will bring together the city’s best chefs, restaurants and mixologists to raise funds to help ensure no child goes hungry. When Nicole Gulotta from The Giving Table contacted me about donating today’s post to the issue of hunger in America it was a no-brainer. I worked with The Giving Table last year as part of Food Bloggers For Slave Free Tomatoes. We have a unique platform for addressing food-related issues and I think we have a responsibility to do what we can.
A new documentary called A Place at the Table was recently released by the creators of Food Inc. The movie follows three families struggling with food insecurity and sheds light on the problem of hunger in America. Here’s a synopsis from the official website:
“Fifty million people in the U.S.—one in four children—don’t know where their next meal is coming from. Directors Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush examine the issue of hunger in America through the lens of three people struggling with food insecurity…Ultimately, A Place at the Table shows us how hunger poses serious economic, social and cultural implications for our nation, and that it could be solved once and for all, if the American public decides — as they have in the past — that making healthy food available and affordable is in the best interest of us all.”
While developing this recipe I tried to imagine shopping for a family on a tiny budget. Almost everything I normally purchase seemed unreasonable. I decided to focus on something I can almost always make based on ingredients in my kitchen; homemade pizza. It’s a great way to use up leftover vegetables and meat. I went with a caramelized onion arugula pizza because I wanted to use up leftovers but homemade pizza is a blank canvas. Really, the sky is the limit.
Baking With Yeast
This recipe uses active dry yeast. Yeast is an ingredient many novice bakers fear, and I’d like to change that! So what is yeast, and how does it work? Can you substitute one variety for another? Check out my article What is Yeast to learn more!
Caramelized Onion Arugula Pizza
Ingredients
Pizza dough:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose or white whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Pizza sauce:
- 1 28 ounce can whole tomatoes, drained
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
Additional ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 medium yellow onions
- 1 cup water
- semolina flour for dusting
- 2/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- a handful of arugula or greens of your choice
- crushed red pepper to taste
Instructions
Prepare the pizza dough:
- In a food processor, combine flour, yeast and sugar. With the machine running, add the warm water and allow the dough to come together for around 20-30 seconds. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then add the olive oil, egg yolk and salt and run the machine for another 30 seconds. Place the dough in a large oiled bowl and cover. Allow the dough to double in size. Divide the dough in half. If you're only making one pizza, wrap half the dough in plastic and refrigerate. Place one or both circles of dough back in the bowl, cover, and allow to rest while preparing the onions and sauce.
Prepare the caramelized onions and sauce:
- Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet on low heat. Add onions and a pinch of salt. Have a measuring cup full of water nearby. Cook the onions on low heat, stirring frequently, until the onions begin to brown. Turn up the heat to medium and continue caramelizing the onions. As a glaze develops on the bottom of the pan, add a few tablespoons of water and scrape up the brown bits, incorporating them into the onions. The heat will cause the water to evaporate. Repeat this process for approximately 25-30 minutes, keeping a close eye on the onions to make sure they don't burn. When the onions have turned a dark brown color and are both bitter and sweet in flavor, remove from the heat and set aside.
- To prepare the sauce, puree tomatoes, olive oil, salt, pepper, dried oregano and garlic in a food processor.
Build the pizza:
- Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Sprinkle some semolina flour on a large baking sheet. You can also use a pizza stone and peel if you prefer.
- Stretch the pizza dough to approximately a 12 inch round and set it on the semolina dusted surface. Top with approximately 1/3 cup tomato sauce. Spread the tomato sauce evenly, leaving approximately an inch of space around the edge of the pizza to create a crust. Top with half the caramelized onions, a handful of arugula and then 1/3 cup mozzarella cheese.
- Bake the pizza for 13-15 minutes. Top with crushed red peppers to taste. Serve immediately.
Please read my full post for additional recipe notes, tips, and serving suggestions!
Nutrition
Recipe Troubleshooting
For immediate help troubleshooting a recipe, please email me using the form on my contact page. I’ll try to respond to urgent questions as quickly as possible! For all general questions, please leave a comment here :)
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
Drool! I love this pizza, Jen! Perfect choice of toppings!
Chung-Ah says
Great pizza for such a great cause! And love that this is budget friendly too! I could sure use a slice of this right now for my 3rd dinner :)
Averie says
Wonderful message and good for you for getting involved! Very commendable & wonderful!
And this pizza…that’s wonderful, too! Thanks for keeping it budget-friendly, too. As a mom, I can totally appreciate that as well!
Kathryn says
Food poverty is such a problem here too and it’s one that the politicians seems so reluctant to engage with. Kudos to your for getting involved in such a good cause and coming up with such a great recipe.
Marie says
Such a great cause, Jen – thanks for sharing with us. And this pizza looks pretty great too! Always can use a beautiful AND budget friendly recipe in my pocket!
Grubarazzi ( says
You are awesome. Enjoy the event! This pizza looks so delicious I want to make it for breakfast.
Heather says
I live in a pretty rural area with ZERO resources for this kind of thing. I’ve been working on a cooking class/food education project for residents here that receive food stamps and I am flying SOLO so it’s a little tricky. Seeing successful initiatives is so motivating and makes me feel more like it will all come together here sometime. Thank you!! This pizza is beautiful. Caramelized onions are the best!
Lisa says
Anything with caramelized onions is a hit with me! Looks delish!
Tracey says
Thanks for sharing about this cause – so worthy. As for the pizza, I am all in for anything involving caramelized onions, I can’t get enough of them!
carol says
Thank you for what you are doing to help out with this worthy cause, Jen…and thank you also for this fabulous pizza. Margarita pizza, and pizza with caramelized onions are my favorites – so thanks for sharing this recipe!
Jennie says
This is such a great cause. Your pizza looks absolutely delicious!
Jennifer says
What a great cause! It is hard to think what some people go through to provide meals for their families. This pizza looks incredible!
Cassie says
Great cause and great pizza. I love it all!
Kirsten says
Jen,
Great post, and how wonderful that you’ll be helping out at the event.
Your pizza looks delicious–and you’re inspiring me to try to photograph my pizzas in a different way.
Thanks!
Bev says
If I can’t have this pizza within 5 minutes SOMEONE WILL PAY.