Pear, Pistachio, & Goat Cheese Pizza

We love making homemade pizza.  You can make it so many different ways and you can really use whatever ingredients you have on hand.  Other than our Thanksgiving pizza, we usually stick with a tomato sauce base, different cheeses, and a variety of toppings like onion, bacon, or peppers.  Don't get me wrong- it's always delicious, just not necessarily outside the box.   As soon as I saw this pizza recipe featured on Savour the Senses, I had to try it.  It's totally unique from any pizza we've ever made, and the beautiful picture of sweet pear slices on the pizza won me over.  Paired with salty crunchy pistachios, tangy goat cheese, and creamy mozzarella, it is a definite winner.

Ingredients:

pizza dough (enough for one pizza)

2 T olive oil

2 t dried oregano

1 t garlic powder

1/2 t black pepper

1/2 t salt

1 large shallot, sliced thinly

1/2 cup pistachios

5 oz goat cheese, crumbled

1 pear, thinly sliced

6 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded or cut into small pieces

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.   Stretch out your dough to fit on a round pizza stone (or do a square or rectangle on a baking sheet).  Drizzle with the olive oil, and sprinkle on the oregano, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.  Bake the crust for 5-7 minutes.  This will allow the final product to have crispier crust.  (note- we didn't do this here, but wished we did!)  We used whole wheat crust which is why it is so dark in the photos.  

Next, evenly place the shallots on the crust, followed by the pistachios and goat cheese.

Finally, place the pear slices on top of the crust.  I tried to do a spiral design, which sort of worked out.  Then sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top.  We used fresh mozzarella so we couldn't really shred it which is why we cut it into small pieces to try and spread it out as much as possible.  

Bake for 10-15 minutes longer, until the cheese is getting brown and bubbly on top.  Cut into slices and serve!  We sprinkled more crushed pistachios on top as a garnish.