French Onion Pizza5 (1)
The famous Soup from France has seen a huge resurgence in recent years. No longer being confined to it’s classical preparation as a traditional Soup, so many different dishes have become ‘French Onion Soupified’. We’ve already thrown out hat into the ring with our amazing French Onion Soup Burger. However, we’re stepping it even more here with what may very well be the king of the category. Behold, the one and only French Onion Pizza!
For our French Onion Pizza recipe, we’re doing everything from scratch. That includes making the very best Pizza Dough we guarantee you’ve ever eaten. Our dough recipe is inspired by a recipe we found from Roberta Pizza in Brooklyn, NY which is one of our all-time favorite Pizza places. In fact, we’ve talked about it a lot on our NY Pizza recipe here
The dough is a classic NY Style Pizza dough. Light and crusty on the outside, but beautiful and chewy on the inside. It is a very easy dough to make as well. The only kicker being it requires a long proving time. 24 hours in fact. If you don’t have that kind of patience, you can always make these Pizzas, by simply using a store-bought Pizza base
How to make French Onion Pizza
There are two major components to French Onion Pizza. Those are, unsurprisingly, the Onions, and the Dough. Both components are very easy to make as outlined in our recipe below. They do take a little bit of time, however. For the best result you cannot rush them
The dough will take some time to prove, which is very important to achieving a lovely, light crust. For the Onions, you’ll need about 45 minutes – 1 hour in the pan for the best result
How to prepare the Pizza Dough
The dough uses a combination of classic All-Purpose Flour and 00 Flour. 00 Flour is widely used in Pizza recipes. It has a much finer grain than regular AP Flour, and will result in a lighter, crispier dough. In addition to the Flour, all you need is Olive Oil, Salt, and some Warm Water (not hot!) along with some dry active Yeast and you’re all set
Adding the Warm Water to the Yeast is probably the ‘trickiest’ part of the dish. I use the term tricky quite loosely, as it’s still very easy to do. You will need the Water to be warm enough to activate the Yeast, but not too hot that it will kill it. Honestly, any kind of warm water out of the tap is fine. But for the purists, you want the temperature to range between 100 – 110F for the best result
We’ve even done a video on activating Yeast on our YouTube channel here for those who are interested
The dough is then kneaded until a smooth ball is formed, then rested for about 15 minutes. Give the dough another good kneading for 2 – 3 minutes and then separate it into 4 separate balls and refrigerate, covered with cling film overnight
When you’re ready to cook Pizza, bring the dough out of the refrigerator and leave for 20 minutes. Shape each ball into Pizza shapes, then place them on parchment paper, ready for their Onion topping!
Preparing the perfect French Onions
Caramelizing Onions for a French Onion preparation is an artform and is slightly different from the way you’d typically think about grilling Onions to get them golden brown. The classic approach of frying them up over high heat on the flat top / grill / or in a pan won’t achieve the silky-smooth texture that French Onion Soup is known for
To achieve that wonderful smooth consistency, you need to slowly cook the Onions over a relatively low heat. This process will take a lot longer but will yield the most perfect textured and tasting Onions you’ve ever eaten. Add a little bit of Butter and Salt in there as they cook to help them caramelize perfectly
You can use any type of Onions you like, or even a combination of Onions which is a fun way to get different colors and textures in your French Onion Pizza. The classic approach is to use Yellow or Spanish Onions, as they are slightly sweeter
Perfectly cooked Caramelized Onions can be used in so many ways. Perhaps none are better than this delicious French Onion Pizza recipe however!
To add liqueur or not?
Adding liquor to the Onions is a classic approach to French Onion Soup, which is what we’re aiming to replicate with our French Onion Pizza. We are making this an optional step in the process, as adding booze to cooking is often a personal preference
The traditional liqueur to use is Madeira or Port, which can be easily found at most liquor store. Madeira may be a little trickier to find, but substituting for the widely found Port is a more than suitable alternative
Don’t feel like buying a whole bottle of mysterious liqueur for a one-off dish? Fair enough! You can simply use Red Wine as a substitute. Simply add a splash of the booze to the Onions once they’ve caramelized and cook it all down for about 5 – 10 more minutes. This will burn off the alcohol and enrich the Onions with the most wonderful flavors
If you don’t want to use booze, you can also try replacing it with a little bit of Sugar. The whole point of adding Liqueur to the dish is to add some richer, sweet flavors. Sugar is a suitable alternative. You can also just not add anything, the Onions will be plenty sweet just on their own
Top your Pizzas with the Onions and finish with Cheese
This recipe will yield enough Onions and dough for 4 Pizzas. Once the Onions are done, spread them generously over the prepared Pizza Dough and then finish with cheese. This is a French Onion Pizza of course, so naturally we’ll need to add cheese
Unlike most Pizzas however, we’re not using Mozzarella Cheese. Instead, we use the same Cheese that is used in French Onion Soup, which is typically a Swiss Cheese variety such as Raclette, Gruyere, or Emmental Cheese
This Cheese has a wonderful, buttery, nutty flavor. It has an exceptional melting quality but doesn’t melt in the same way that Mozzarella does. It won’t ooze all over the Pizza, instead it will stay in its shape while it melts. You can be as generous or frugal as you like when applying the Cheese. Totally up to you!
Baking your French Onion Pizza
We’ve discovered a little trick that achieves beautifully crispy crusts on Pizzas by simply using your home oven. The trick is to crank the temperature of your oven as high as it can go, and cook the Pizzas on a piping hot surface
Many folks use Pizza Stones, which serve that purpose. However, if you don’t have one you can simply use a large oven-proof pan such as a Cast Iron Skillet. Be sure to place the pan in the Oven while it is heating, so that when the Pizza is placed on top, it’ll already be piping hot
This method ensures that the Pizza is cooked both from the top and the bottom. The cook time will only be about 5 – 6 minutes, so keep a close eye on the doneness. Once cooked, slice them up and serve immediately. As with any Pizza, it’s best enjoyed straight out of the oven
Recipe Details
4 people
1 day
1 hour
1 day (or 1 hour if using a store bought Pizza base)
French Onion Pizza Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 Medium Yellow / Spanish Onions
- 2 tbsp. Unsalted Butter
- 2 tsp. Salt
- 200g / 7 oz. Gruyere, Raclette, or Jarlsberg Cheese
- Optional: ½ cup Madeira Wine (or you can use Red Wine)
To make the Pizza Base
- 150g 00 Flour
- 150g All-Purpose Flour
- 200g Warm Water (not hot)
- ¾ tsp. Dry Yeast
- 1 tsp. Olive Oil
- 1 tsp. Salt
Equipment needed: Stand Mixer with hook attachment
This recipe will produce 4 medium sized French Onion Pizzas
Instructions
Making the Dough
- Combine the 00 Flour and AP Flour into your stand mixer bowl and mix to combine. In a separate bowl, combine the Water, Yeast, Olive Oil, and Salt and mix well. Pour the Water mixture into the bowl with the Flour
- Mix in the stand mixer for 1 ½ minutes on medium until a dough ball is formed. Form the dough into a ball and return to bowl. Leave for 15 minutes, uncovered
- Knead the dough well for 2 – 3 minutes, then cut it into 4 equal sized pieces. Roll each piece in a ball then place on a large, flat surface. Cover with a damp towel or cling film and refrigerate overnight
- When you are ready to make the French Onion Pizzas, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let sit for 20 minutes. Scatter some Flour on a large flat surface and then shape the dough into flat Pizza rounds
- Transfer the dough to parchment paper ready to add the toppings
Caramelized Onions Topping
- Peel and slice the Onions into long strands and then place into a large saucepan or pot over medium low heat. Add the Butter and Salt and slowly cook, stirring occasionally
- After about 45 minutes – 1 hour, the Onions will have caramelized, turning a golden-brown color. At this point, add the (optional) Madeira / Wine and increase the heat to medium. Stir until the liquid has burnt off, another 5 – 7 minutes or so
- Spread the Onions over the prepared Pizza dough and then top with slices of Cheese
Baking the Pizza
- Place a Pizza Stone or large oven proof pan (such as a Cast Iron Skillet) in the Oven and heat at the highest temperature. Once hot, place the Pizza along with the parchment paper directly onto the Pizza Stone / Pan
- Bake for 2 minutes, then remove the parchment paper (it will slide straight out) and continue baking for another 2 – 3 minutes until the dough has browned and cheese melted. Remove from the oven and serve immediately
Recipe Notes
- For a massive shortcut, you can buy ready made Pizza Bases instead of making your own dough. You can also use thick-cut Pita Bread as an alternative and it will turn out great
- For less quantity, you can halve the recipe ingredients for both the Caramelized Onion topping and the Dough. All other elements in the recipe will remain the same
- You can make this recipe without a stand mixer by kneading the dough by hand. Just double the kneading time outlined in the recipe (eg: 3 minutes instead of 1 ½ minutes)
That’s our delicious recipe for homemade French Onion Pizza. We just know you’re going to love this dish, so give it a go and let us know in the comments below how it went!
For more delicious French inspired recipes, why not try a few of these favorites of ours:
Happy Cooking!
