Pizza--deconstructed.

I've been on a fruit and cheese combo kick lately, and craving nontraditional flavors like mad.

My oldest daughter invited her friend over for dinner last week, and I had a wild hair to create a pizza using a cornbread crust (found in the freezer section at New Seasons), fresh figs, toasted hazelnuts and crumbled Gorgonzola cheese.  (Luckily, Lizzie's friend is unusually brave for a teenager and has a rather sophisticated palate, so I was not too worried about scaring her off)  At the grocery store, I couldn't find a single fig, so I substituted them with apricots.  I grabbed a sweet onion to caramelize in the cast iron skillet, thinking to add an additional note of sweetness, with a savory finish, along with some spicy Arugula greens to sprinkle on top or eat as a side, drizzled with olive oil. 

It turned out to be quite lovely, and super fast and easy to make.  The girls ate the entire thing by themselves, so it's a good thing the cornbread crusts come in a double package.

Fruit and Nut Pizza with Gorgonzola

1 frozen cornbread pizza crust
3 sliced apricots (or figs, which is my favorite)
1/2 of a sweet Walla Walla onion, sliced thinly and caramelized with a bit of olive oil and brown sugar
a small handful of crumbled Gorgonzola
a small handful of toasted chopped  hazelnuts (although whole is nice too... a little extra crunch)

honey

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Assemble all of the main ingredients loosely and artistically on the crust while it is still frozen.  Drizzle on a bit of honey and bake for about 18 minutes or until cheese is a little gooey and the crust is slightly browned.  Top with spicy greens if you like or serve them as a salad on the side.