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This caramelized onion and Brussels sprout pizza is a delicious idea for a winter pizza topping! Make it a heart shaped pizza for someone you love.
Whatever your feelings about Valentine’s Day, can we just rally around a day to celebrate love? Here in the dead of winter with some serious goings on in the American political climate, we’re desperately in need of a love holiday. Not just romantic love, but straight up love-your-neighbor love. The kind that doesn’t care about skin color or ethnicity or orientation. The kind of love that doesn’t say anger-provoking words and instead is thoughtful and respectful. The kind of love that celebrates differences and lives in trust, not fear. The kind of love that is kind. Please say that kind of love still out there? We’re desperately in need of a love holiday.
Related: Romantic Valentine’s Day Dinner Ideas
This Valentine’s Day, could it be less about the red roses and cheesy cards and more about the kind of love that extends grace to our neighbors? That welcomes people into homes and shares meals around a table? The kind of love that brings reconciliation despite long-held grudges?
How to make Brussels sprout pizza
We originally created this caramelized onion and Brussels sprout pizza as an idea for a fun Valentine’s Day dinner for two, accompanied by a lovely winter salad maybe. Caramelizing the onions takes a bit of time (about 1 hour), but it’s absolutely worth the time for the silky, savory flavor. You can caramelize the onions while the pizza dough rests. And for this Brussels sprout pizza, the Brussels sprouts don’t even need cooking! (So different from our Best Brussels Sprouts Recipe!) They’re simply thinly sliced and sprinkled over the pizza, which brings a savory crunch.
Related: Homemade Pizza for Beginners | What’s the Best Pizza Stone?
How to make a heart shaped pizza
For this Brussels sprout pizza, you absolutely don’t have to make it in a heart shape. However, there’s nothing more fun than making shapes out of your food, right?
Making heart shaped pizza is a little tricky because a heart shape is harder to get into the oven than a circle. To make the heart shape, simply cut a small divot into the top of the circle, then form the bottom of the dough into a point so that it forms a heart shape. Then carefully place the dough on a pizza peel spread with flour or cornmeal.
Since the heart-shaped pizza is a bit more fragile than other shapes, we recommend using a conveyor pizza peel to slide it into the oven if you can. This helps to ensure the heart shape can get evenly onto the pizza stone. If you don’t have a conveyor pizza peel, cross your fingers and slide the pizza quickly!
Related: How to make artisan pizza | Our Best Vegan Pizza
Make it a meal
Serve with a kale salad or any of our best green salads for a hearty meal.
Listen
Listen to our love-themed Valentine’s podcast.
Looking for more homemade pizza recipes?
Outside this heart shaped Brussels sprouts pizza, here are a few of our favorite homemade pizza recipes on A Couple Cooks:
- Perfect Neapolitan Pizza Recipe
- Spicy Vegetarian Diavola Pizza
- Our Best Vegan Pizza
- Italian Pizza with Pesto
- Best Anchovy Pizza
- Easy Calzone Recipe
- Salad Pizza with Ranch
- Easy Cheese Pita Pizza
- Best Margherita Pizza Recipe
- KitchenAid Pizza Dough Recipe
- All Our Homemade Pizza Recipes
Caramelized Onion and Brussels Sprout Heart-Shaped Pizzas
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 pizza (8 slices) 1x
Description
This caramelized onion and Brussels sprout pizza is a delicious idea for a winter pizza topping! Make it a heart shaped pizza for someone you love.
Ingredients
- 1 ball Best Pizza Dough (or Food Processor Dough or Thin Crust Dough)
- 3 large Vidalia onions (about 3 pounds)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus additional for the pizza
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus additional for the pizza
- 2 to 3 Brussels sprouts
- ½ cup Easy Pizza Sauce
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- Pecorino cheese, to garnish
- Semolina flour or cornmeal, for dusting the pizza peel
Instructions
- Make the pizza dough: Follow the Best Pizza Dough recipe to prepare the dough. (This takes about 15 minutes to make and 45 minutes to rest.)
- Make the caramelized onions: Peel, halve, and slice the onions as thinly as possible. In a very large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onions, which can mound in the skillet if necessary. Saute, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes until soft and translucent. Add 1 teaspoon kosher salt and reduce the heat to medium-low, finding a temperature that is not so hot that the onions burn but not so low that they do not continue to cook. Cook slowly, stirring every 5 to 10 minutes or so, until very reduced and dark brown, about 40 minutes. The onions will turn from translucent white to golden to brown to a rich, caramely dark brown color, and the volume will have reduced by at least 4 times.
- Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500°F. OR preheat your pizza oven (here’s the pizza oven we use).
- Make the Easy Pizza Sauce. Thinly slice the Brussels sprouts.
- When the oven is ready, dust a pizza peel with cornmeal or semolina flour. (If you don’t have a pizza peel, you can use a rimless baking sheet or the back of a rimmed baking sheet. But a pizza peel is well worth the investment!) Stretch the dough into a circle; see this video for instructions. Then gently place the dough onto the pizza peel. Cut a small divot into the top of the circle, then form the bottom of the dough into a point so that it forms a heart shape. (Note: Since the heart-shaped pizza is a bit more fragile than other shapes, it’s easiest to use a conveyor-type pizza peel to slide it into the oven if you can. If not, cross your fingers and slide quickly!)
- Spread the sauce in a thin layer across the dough. Top with mozzarella cheese and shavings of Pecorino cheese (use a vegetable peeler). Add dollops of caramelized onions, then sprinkle all over with Brussels sprouts and a few pinches kosher salt.
- Transfer the pizza to the pizza stone on the pizza peel, then bake until the cheese is melted, about 7 minutes.
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Italian
Had one of my clients try this and they loved it!
Ooo this is fantastic. Thanks, Griff!
Your love pizza looks great. I’m always keen about caramelized onion on just about anything so this looks really good. I’ll have to make it!
Now this is one of the best looking pizza’s I’ve ever seen :) If I got this for Valentines I’d be a happy lady!
Holly x
http://www.ldnmuse.com
Yes!
Now that’s what I am talking about! Love it! If I can swing a gluten free crust on this bad boy I will be in luck! Thanks as always for sharing.
Exactly! Thank you! We’re still here we’re just not in charge anymore. For now.
yes to the pizza and yes to the love!
I’m in! Thanks for your thoughtful words and for the yummy recipe! Was at a rally yesterday in my small town in support of all those hurting and scared by this bizarre political world we find ourselves in, and I truly believe in the hope and the love trumping the hate and despair. We will get through this, but it will hurt. So, yes, a love holiday to celebrate all people is just the prescription we need right now.
No better way to spread some love than with this beautiful heart-shaped pizza! The mixture of the onions and brussels sprouts with the mozzarella sounds fantastic!
The heart shape is amazing.
Beautifully written. ♥
And yes, yes, yes. I’m so ready for a love holiday. Cheers to us all working together to make it a memorable one this year.