Pear and Blue Cheese Pizza on Whole Wheat and Honey Pizza Dough

Without fail, Mr. Prevention requests pizza about 20 minutes before he turns into a pumpkin. From hunger.

My dear, pizza is a plan-ahead meal…how many times have we gone over this already? Love, your wife and personal wannabe chef.

I have to throw him under the bus just a bit because on this particular night he not only wanted pizza…he wanted Chicago-Style Deep Dish. The man has tall orders to fill and normally, with proper warning, I am able to accommodate his stomach’s every last request. But at 7pm at night? He got an eye roll.

And then he pouted. (I wish I were kidding. My 31-year-old husband is a kid at heart when it comes to pizza).

It didn’t end there. He wanted nothing to do with pear and blue cheese on his pizza.

He wanted pizza sauce, turkey pepperoni, green pepper, garlic, cherry tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella. Our trip to the grocery store was up $10 to fulfill his every last topping request and rather than buying a second pint of tomatoes, we bartered right then and there in the produce section and agreed that he could have 5 (I needed the tomatoes for a recipe later in the week!).

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Pear and Blue Cheese Pizza

4 tsp olive oil
4 oz fresh mozzarella, torn into small pieces
2 pears, cored and thinly sliced
3 oz blue cheese, crumbled
1 Whole Wheat and Honey Pizza Dough recipe (below)
2 cups arugula

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Divide pizza dough into 2 equal balls and roll each into a 12-14 inch round on a lightly floured surface. Transfer to pizza pans.

Bake for 6-8 minutes.

Remove pizza crusts from oven, drizzle each pizza with 2 teaspoons olive oil, 2 ounces mozzarella, 1 pear, and 1 1/2 ounces blue cheese crumbles. Bake for an additional 5-10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes. Top with arugula and slice into 6 pieces.

Yield: 2 small pizzas – 4 servings (3 slices each).

Nutrition Information (per serving): 490 calories; 17.3 g. fat; 30 mg. cholesterol; 846 mg. sodium; 65.3 g. carbohydrate; 9.3 g. fiber; 13.5 g. protein

Result: Sweet, salty, and tangy from the blue cheese and arugula. I thoroughly enjoyed this sauce-less pizza and using olive oil as a base. It really allowed for the flavors of the pear and cheese to pop. If have never tried fresh arugula over a warm pizza, you’re missing out. If there’s anything I recreate from Italian cuisine on a regular basis, it is arugula on pizza! Enjoy!

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He helped make sat in the Lay-Z-Boy and watched Mad Money while I threw together the very simple dough…and let it rise “for a few minutes,” just as the recipe directed.

He had his loaded up pizza and I had my pear and blue cheese variety (which he tasted…and loved). This dough recipe makes two 12-inch thin crust pizza doughs. The dough is good, but I don’t think no-rise dough will ever replace the fluffy stuff. As the recipe instructs, be sure to par-bake the pizza dough so that it has a slight crisp and doesn’t get soggy under all the pizza topping goodness…whatever toppings you decide on 😉

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Whole Wheat and Honey Pizza Dough from All Recipes

1 (.25 oz) package (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 cups whole wheat (pastry) flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp honey

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl combine flour, wheat germ and salt. Make a well in the middle and add honey and yeast mixture. Stir well to combine. Cover and set in a warm place to rise for a few minutes.

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 This quarter is officially over and my students and I had a great time at dinner last night. So much fun 🙂 I’ve got a busy day at both clinics and swinging by a nursing home to do an assessment, as well. TGIF, for sure!

Be well,