I love pizza.  It’s always delicious and it’s always in season.   Pizza is one of those foods that I think of when I need comfort food – cheese pizza to be precise.  I know that I posted Deep Dish Pizza here a while ago but this isn’t that – this is classic thin crust eat half of it and feel a little bit sick pizza.  I made this with the intention of not blogging it, so there aren’t too many photos but it doesn’t matter.  It was divine pizza.  Promises.

I made this pizza originally when I (to my great surprise) found goat cheese logs for $5 each at the local markets in Watertown – seriously if you haven’t been to Arax Market on Mt. Auburn St go (now if at all possible, I can wait).  I snagged one and then sat, stumped, trying to figure out what to do with 10 oz of goat cheese.  I could bake it with some swiss and cream but I needed more, I needed to take advantage of the flavor and texture, i needed the tang of goat cheese to hold up on it’s own.  Probably with something sweet to balance it.  And, perfection!  I found pizza dough and a great and simple pizza (possibly closer to the French Flammenkuche) showed up in my kitchen.

Boyfriend loves his pizzas white, at least when I make them from scratch for him; he loves Olive Oil, Olives, Spinach, Basil, and the occasional sprinkle of sun-dried tomatoes; he’s easy.  But I like a lot of varied things on my pizza and his is typically a tad dry for me – if nothing else I need cheese, because isn’t it just foccaccia bread without cheese?  So here was my idea – use the cheese as a sauce!  With the spread-ability of a slightly warmed goat cheese, I was hooked.  As I rifled through my cupboards and fridge, I came up with one smallish red onion, a little bit of broccoli, a roasted red pepper, and prosciutto.  And there it was.

Ahh, the glory of pizza!  I love to make pizza because I can plan for it and make something decadent, or I can make it on the fly with whatever’s in my kitchen/pantry; just now I was thinking that this would be fantastic with some peaches, added a-la-that-peach-sandwich that Katie over at The Small Boston Kitchen made, or figs, if you’ve got those.  Though I may just go make it for myself with some apples, pancetta, and winter squash; because, well, yum.

Goat Cheese Pizza
1 pizza dough, pre-made is fine, but get a ball of dough and stretch it yourself
4 oz goat cheese, warmed slightly
1/2 roasted red pepper, diced to 1 inch pieces
1 small head of broccoli, separated into small florets
1 small red onion, sliced
2-3 slices prosciutto, chopped into 1 inch pieces
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit, preferably with a pizza stone inside it.  Heat olive oil in a medium pan and sauté the onion until soft, about 1-2 mins over med heat.  Add the broccoli and continue to toss/move the vegetables every 15-30 seconds until the broccoli is wilted and the onions are transparent (3-5 mins).  Remove this pan from the heat. stretch the pizza dough so it’s the size of the pizza stone/the thickness you want.  Spread the goat cheese over the body of the pizza as you would tomato sauce, though a little more gently is wise here since the dough could rip!  Sprinkle your now-cooled broccoli and onions over the goat cheese, and add the roasted pepper and prosciutto.  Bake in the hot oven for 10-15 mins, until the crust is an even brown on the bottom and the top is starting to brown.  Remove from the oven and let it cool for 5-10 mins.  Enjoy with a nice white wine and strawberry, fennel, and spinach salad.  Eat it feeling less guilty than you usually do about pizza, because the cheese isn’t greasy at all!