What goes together better than Friday and pizza?

If you ask me, not much. Friday + pizza + perhaps a beer, if that’s what you’re into (I am).

This great combination just got even better. Pizza made in my beautiful cast iron skillet, with slightly sweet caramelized onion sauce, fresh asparagus, crunchy kale, balsamic mushrooms and salty parmesan cheese. O yes, Friday (or any day) is even better with this pizza.

The inspiration for this pizza came from two places.

The method came from the great Bev Cooks blog. I love Bev’s blog. She makes food that looks amazing and she is seriously hilarious. You have got to check out her blog. And this pizza idea? Brilliant.

The flavor combination was inspired by a great restaurant, Earth Bread + Brewery in Mt. Airy, Pa. Earth is the coolest little restaurant. It was the first restaurant that Greg and I tried in Mt. Airy and we were obsessed from the very first bite of hearth-baked flatbread. Earth makes flatbreads and they make them well. They are cooked in a wood-fire oven with ingredient combinations that just blow your mind.

We haven’t had anything there we don’t like, including their selection of small-batch, house-brewed beers.

One night not too long ago, we tried their “special” flatbread of the night. It had an onion marmalade as the sauce, kale, asparagus and mushrooms. Well, not too much later, I tried recreating it and this is what I came up with.

The delicious ingredients mixed with the skillet method makes for one great pizza.

You have got to try it!

Ingredients
1 ball of pizza dough
Olive oil
1 large red onion
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 bunch of asparagus
2 cups chopped kale
4 oz. mushrooms
4 oz. parmesan cheese

First work on caramelizing the onion. Slice the onion thin. Add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a pan over medium high heat on the stove. Add the sliced onion and a pinch of salt, stir and let cook about 5 minutes or until onions begin to soften. Add the balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar and brown sugar and stir well to incorporate into onions. Turn down heat and cook on medium low, stirring occasionally, until onions are caramelized, about 25-30 minutes.

While onions are caramelizing, prep all of your veggies. Preheat oven to 350*. Chop the asparagus into thirds.Toss asparagus and kale with olive oil to coat the veggies well and roast in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Set aside.

Slice the mushrooms. Toss with olive oil and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Roast in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Set aside.

Once onions are caramelized add to a food processor or mini food chopper (what I used). Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil with the onions and process until they are completely broken down and are thick and “sauce” like.

Now get ready to assemble the pizza. You can read the skillet method in-depth here. Place your cast iron skillet on your stove over high heat. Preheat your oven’s broiler. On a floured surface, roll out the pizza dough to fit into the skillet. Mine was 8 inches. Bev used a pizza skin to transfer her pizza from the counter top to the skillet. I don’t have a pizza skin so I used an extra wide spatula. Transferring the uncooked pizza from the counter to the skillet is tricky, so make sure you have a plan before you add the toppings.

For the pizza, spread a thick layer of the caramelized onion sauce onto the rolled out dough. Top with cheese. Then add on the asparagus, kale and mushrooms. Transfer the pizza to the hot skillet. Quickly transfer the skillet to the oven and broil. Bev said her pizza took 2 to 3 minutes, however, mine took around 10. Keep in mind that cooking time will vary depending on your oven.

Once the dough is cooked through and crust slightly crispy, remove the pizza from the oven, slice and enjoy!

*Notes:
-You can definitely make your own pizza dough like Bev did in the link
-I used a store-bought pizza dough that was 8 oz.
-You could also use the asparagus, kale and mushroom combination on a pizza without using the skillet method
-Do what works for you!