Onion Pizza with Tomato and Basil

This Onion Pizza recipe is unique and utterly scrumptious. Caramelized onions are essentially the sauce, it's beautiful and delicious and makes for an excellent main course. With a gluten-free crust made out of (one!) potato -- or your own favorite crust -- you will keep coming back for more.

It doesn't get much better than delicious, sweet, rich caramelized onions. Unless . . . they become an integral part of a pizza -- one made with potato, tomatoes and basil.

Fun for a casual get together, or a family dinner, this onion pizza is a great main course or, you can cut it into small pieces and serve it as an appetizer. Any way you slice it, it's superb!

The Ingredients

• onion - Use any variety you like. (I use yellow.) Try to choose onions that are firm, heavy for their size and without bruises.
• garlic - Look for firm heads of garlic without any soft spots or green shoots, which is an indication of old garlic. (Raw garlic cloves should be firm without any dark spots.)
• tomato paste - Tomato paste is a tomato concentrate that's made by cooking tomatoes for several hours to reduce the water content. In the onion pizza, it gets mixed with the onions once they're caramelized.
• tomato - There are fresh tomatoes on top of this pizza. When it's not peak season (summer and early fall), Roma or Vine Ripened tomatoes will be your best bet. Color and feel are the best cues to ripeness -- they should be slightly firm, but have a little give when gently squeezed, and they should be a deep red color.
• grated mozzarella - Mozzarella is a mild cheese which works well with the other flavors in the pizza so it doesn't outshine them.
• basil - Look for perky bunches and avoid any brown, bruised or yellow leaves.
• olive oil - Regular or extra virgin.
• Smashed Potato Pizza Crust - Or your favorite crust.
• salt - I cook (and bake) with Kosher salt. I prefer it for a few reasons: its larger flake size, it's less refined and usually doesn't contain additives, and it does a great job enhancing the flavor of foods without making them taste salty.
• pepper - Preferably freshly ground.

(See recipe card below for quantities.)

Substitutions

• To save time, use any (approximately 10-inch) prepared pizza crust you like.
• If you'd like to substitute the fresh basil with dry, use about 2 teaspoons, and mix it into the onions in the middle of their cooking time.
• You can substitute the tomato paste with tomato sauce, only use twice the amount.

How to Make it

- Make the Smashed Potato Pizza Crust (link above and in recipe below). This can be done up to a few hours ahead of time.

- Coat the bottom of a medium-sized skillet with olive oil and place it over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion, stirring often, until the edges are golden, about 10 minutes. (Or longer -- see Recipe Tips below.) Add garlic and tomato paste and cook for another minute or so.

-Evenly spread the onion-tomato mixture on the potato crust, followed by the grated mozzarella, basil leaves and tomato slices. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

- Bake in a 400°F oven until the cheese is melted and the pizza is sizzling.

(More detailed instructions are in the recipe card below.)

Recipe Tips

• In this recipe, the onions are quickly caramelized, just browning the edges of them. If you cook them longer and at a lower temperature, they'll be more caramelized -- sweeter and richer. The longer they cook, the more they'll shrink, so if you plan to cook them longer, use a larger amount. It's always better to have too much.

More Unique Pizza Recipes

• Basil Pizza with Pesto
• Smashed Potato Egg and Bacon Pizza
• Portobello Mushroom-Sausage Pizza

Serving Suggestions

• This recipe is for a small pizza for a main course for two. You can cut it into as many slices as you'd like and share it with more people for an appetizer.
• Onion pizza is great served with a salad. My favorites to serve with it are Parmesan Asparagus Salad and Grilled Little Gem Lettuce Salad.
• It's also lovely with a side of green vegetables like this asparagus, or fresh fruit like Satsuma Salad or this Melon with Oregano.

Making it Ahead

• Ideally, you should use the crust for your pizza right after it's made. It can however, be made a few hours ahead of time. Once it's on the baking sheet ready for the toppings, let it cool to room temperature and then lightly cover it with foil until you're ready. No need to refrigerate it.
• The onion "sauce" can be made up to a day ahead of time, stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you're ready for it.
• Everything else should be done as close to serving time as possible.

I hope you love this onion pizza as much as my family and I do!

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