Caramelized Pear And Fig Pizza

This recipe is my own spin on the baked pear and Brie sandwich served at The Farm of Beverly Hills. I first ate at The Farm with my husband when we were dating and, while I'm sure we had fun on the date, what I really remember about our outing was the baked pear and Brie! My recipe replaces Brie with lactose-free Monterey Jack and adds flavors courtesy of bacon, fig butter, and OJ. Serve this dish to wow guests from any zip code, including 90210.

Serves 4 To 6
Oven: 375ยบF

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp lactose-free butter
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar or palm sugar
  • 2 Bosc pears cut into 14-inch thick
  • slices
  • 1/2 sweet yellow onion thinly sliced
  • 1/8 c orange juice
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • Pinch of salt
  • Fig butter
  • 2 gluten-free pizza crusts such as Udi's Thin & Crispy Pizza Crusts
  • 10 oz. lactose-free Monterey Jack cut into 14-inch thick slices (slice enough to cover pizza crust, about 10 slices per pizza)
  • 2 slices bacon cooked and chopped
  • 1 handful chopped walnuts
  • 1 handful arugula

Instructions

1

Warm butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Once butter has melted, add brown/palm sugar. Stir until sugar has dis- solved, about 2 minutes. Add sliced pears to skillet and cook until pears are slightly softened, about 2 minutes, then add onion and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally

2

Add orange juice, honey, black pepper, and salt to skillet. Con- tinue cooking mixture over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and set aside.

3

Spread a thin layer of fig butter on each pizza crust, leaving about 1 centimeter around the perimeter of the crust unbuttered. Top buttered portion of crust with evenly-spaced slices of cheese.

4

Place pizzas on top rack of oven and bake for 7 minutes or until edges of crust and cheese are slightly browned.

5

When about 2 minutes of cooking time remain, sprinkle bacon and walnuts atop pizzas, then continue baking. Once pizzas are ready, remove from oven, sprinkle with arugula leaves and then spread pear and onion mixture on top of pizzas. Slice and serve immediately.