Escarole and Goat Cheese Pizza with Honey Toasted Walnuts
Wow, that headline is a mouthful, literally. My wife and I were fortunate enough to get out for dinner on Valentine’s day this year. Typically it is something that we tend not to do for that annual event, as after all it is Valentine’s day in our house everyday. So we decided to go to La Reve, a quaint French restaurant not too far away from the house. I had no expectations, however I heard from several people that the food was really great. To make things short, the food was really good, and as we did a wine pairing with our meal, there was one dish that really stood out to both of us and believe it or not, it was a simple escarole salad. We actually loved it. It was escarole, toasted walnuts, goat cheese, and honey. I think the honey really brought things together, and the following day, I wanted that salad again. So, I decided to recreate those flavors and turn it onto a pizza.
You will not believe how simple this is to make, and more importantly, how amazing it tastes.
Let’s get started.
Ingredients:
- 1 batch of pizza dough
- 1 tbsp cornmeal
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and Pepper
- 8 oz Goat Cheese, room temperature
- 2 oz walnuts, chopped
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 head escarole, torn
- 5 tbsp honey, warmed
Preheat your oven to 475 degrees with a pizza stone, if you have one.
Start by adding a bit of cornmeal onto a pizza paddle. This assists with sliding the pizza onto your preheated pizza stone.
Shape your dough into about a 12-14 inch perimeter.
Shower the dough with a bit of salt and pepper, then drizzle with the olive oil.
Place the dough into the preheated oven, and onto the preheated pizza stone.
Next, add the walnuts to a small skillet and place that on medium heat. Add in the brown sugar, and let that begin to caramelize, keeping an eye on it as you do not want them to burn. Add in one tablespoon of the honey.
Once the sugar begins to melt, add in the water, lower the heat, and mix.
Check on the pizza dough. If it begins to form some crazy air bubbles, simply use a fork to poke through, the press it down.
Cook the dough for about 15 minutes, or until it is golden brown.
Once the dough is browned, slide it onto a pizza sheet, and spread the goat cheese onto the entire pizza. Drizzle half of the honey onto the pizza, and place it back into the oven for about four minutes to warm everything through.
Remove the pizza from the oven, place back onto the pizza sheet, and scatter the lettuce on top of the pizza. Use a spoon and scatter the candied walnuts over the pizza. Drizzle the remaining honey all over the lettuce and walnuts.
Slice and serve.
You will be amazed at the flavors of this pizza. I am not a ‘sweets’ kind of guy, and I’m not saying this pizza is overly sweet, but that honey, when paired with the goat cheese and some of the bitterness from the escarole, is really freaking amazing.  My wife and I had a slice for lunch and she was shocked at how spot on I got those flavors! We let the pizza set out for the afternoon and it was actually a great snack throughout the day as well. I hope you enjoy!
Escarole and Goat Cheese Pizza with Honey Toasted Walnuts
Ingredients
- 1 batch of pizza dough
- 1 tbsp cornmeal
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and Pepper
- 8 oz Goat Cheese room temperature
- 2 oz walnuts chopped
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 head escarole torn
- 5 tbsp honey warmed
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 475 degrees with a pizza stone, if you have one.
- Start by adding a bit of cornmeal onto a pizza paddle. This assists with sliding the pizza onto your preheated pizza stone.
- Shape your dough into about a 12-14 inch perimeter.
- Shower the dough with a bit of salt and pepper, then drizzle with the olive oil.
- Place the dough into the preheated oven, and onto the preheated pizza stone.
- Next, add the walnuts to a small skillet and place that on medium heat. Add in the brown sugar, and let that begin to caramelize, keeping an eye on it as you do not want them to burn. Add in one tablespoon of honey.
- Once the sugar begins to melt, add in the water, lower the heat, and mix.
- Check on the pizza dough. If it begins to form some crazy air bubbles, simply use a fork to poke through, the press it down.
- Cook the dough for about 15 minutes, or until it is golden brown.
- Once the dough is browned, slide it onto a pizza sheet, and spread the goat cheese onto the entire pizza. Drizzle half of the honey onto the pizza, and place it back into the oven for about four minutes to warm everything through.
- Remove the pizza from the oven, place back onto the pizza sheet, and scatter the lettuce on top of the pizza. Use a spoon and scatter the candied walnuts over the pizza. Drizzle the remaining honey all over the lettuce and walnuts.
- Slice and serve.
