Working on this recipe was quite an internal struggle for me. I knew I wanted to do an apple cheddar pizza, and I kind of thought I wanted to add walnuts too. But a little voice kept nagging at me.
“Add caramelized onions! Caramelized onions!”
I tried to resist because, well, I don’t want you guys to think that I have to add caramelized onions to everything I make. (Note: I do have to add caramelized onions to everything I make.) I wanted to do something different! But then as I was getting ready to make this, I realized that we had an extra onion sitting all lonely and sad on the countertop. I mean, obviously, the universe was talking to me right there. If the universe wants me to put caramelized onions on a pizza, I can’t say no, right?
![Apple Cheddar Pizza [Uncooked]](http://ohmyveggies.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/apple_cheddar_pizza_uncooked.jpg "Apple Cheddar Pizza [Uncooked]")
So yeah, it’s another recipe with caramelized onions. I guess if you’re not a fan of them, you’re going to have to go read another vegetarian food blog.
Now, caramelizing the onions adds some extra time to making this, so if you want to omit them, you can. But you can also make the onions in advance. (I have a handy tutorial on how to caramelize onions on my blog too!) You can make a big batch of them over the weekend when you have more time and then plan a few meals that use them for throughout the week–they’ll last about 5-6 days in the fridge, so it works out perfectly.
So with a prepared pizza crust and your batch of pre-made caramelized onions, this pizza makes for a really quick dinner. Saute the apples, throw everything on the crust, bake it and you’ve got a delicious sweet-and-savory apple cheddar pizza in about 20 minutes.
A sweet-and-savory pizza topped with maple-sauteed apples, caramelized onions, aged cheddar and walnuts.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
- salt + pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp. butter
- 1 apple, cored and thinly sliced (Braeburn, Fuji, or Honeycrisp work well)
- 1 tbsp. maple syrup
- 1 large prepared pizza crust
- 1 c. shredded aged cheddar cheese
- 2 tbsp chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large skillet over low heat. Add onion and cook until caramelized, stirring every 5 minutes or so at first and then, as the onions begin to brown, more frequently. This could take from 30 minutes to over an hour, depending on your stove. Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.
- Preheat oven to temperature indicated on pizza crust package.
- Wipe skillet clean; add butter and melt over medium heat. Once butter has melted, add apple slices and saute for about 10 minutes, or until softened, stirring frequently. Stir in maple syrup and continue cooking until liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat.
- Top pizza crust with caramelized onions, shredded cheese, apples, and walnuts. Bake for time indicated on package or until cheese has melted.
Notes
Make the caramelized onions in advance to shorten the cook time. If the instructions on your pizza crust indicate that it should be baked at a higher temperature than 375 degrees or for longer than 10 minutes, toast walnuts separately and add them to pizza after it's finished baking.
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Caramelized onions are delicious and should be added to everything
I think I might make this for my family as an appetizer for our vegetarian christmas dinner. I know my dad would LOVE it. Awesome recipe, thank you! xo
For Christmas?! That is pressure! I hope it turns out well, or I’ll feel really bad.
I definitely have to try this! As it is every autumn, I’m up to my neck in apples (like five kinds of them), onions, and walnuts – pros of having two gardens – or cons – since after a while you don’t know what to do with them, because there is too much! So I think this may be very useful recipe;)
You have apple trees? FIVE KINDS of apple trees?! Oh, I am jealous.
I keep trying to convince my husband that we need an apple tree in the backyard. (He is not yet convinced.)
It’s in the oven:) Smells delicious! About apple trees: It’s definitely worth it! Juice extractor or another such “thingy” and you can do almost everything: juices, smoothies, cookies, pastries. Everything. We have too much, but I think that having one small apple tree would be great for you (all – husband included:)
Made this tonight and it was really good! I used your method for carmelizing onions and it really tested my patience, but they turned out really well!! I have lots of leftovers to look forward to!! Thanks for a great recipe!
Yes, it does take a little bit of patience to caramelize those onions!
But I’m glad it was worth it!