Homemade Ricotta and Onion Marmalade PIZZA!

This isn't a recipe, really, as much as it is an assemblage of other things. I decided I wanted to use my ricotta - recipe is here - and onion marmalade - and here- and also the slow roasted grape tomatoes I had in the fridge that I made last week. The tomatoes are super easy. I just washed 3 pints of lovely grape tomatoes, put them on a sheet pan, drizzled a tiny amount of oil over them, and slid them into a 250 degree oven for about 3 hours. I checked on them every 30 minutes or so, to be sure all was well. When they were done, I put them in a container and put them in the fridge. I try not to think about them there, because otherwise they would last me only a few hours!

So last night, I located my pizza stone and cranked the oven up to 500 degrees. I used the pre-made Nan bread that Wegman's carries as the crust, but you could use Boboli pizza shells, or your own pizza dough. Whatever you like. The nan was perfect for me, though. I spread a layer of onion marmalade, not too thick because it is pretty sweet. Then i added olive bar dark olives, sliced in half, my yummy tomatoes, and then the ricotta. A sprinkling of a good Romano cheese and some herbs de Provence, and into the oven they went!

When they were done, about 10 minutes, I topped them with a very lightly dressed salad of arugala. I used hazelnut oil and champagne vinegar because those are the lightest things I have. You wouldn't want to use a good balsamic because the onions are pretty sweet. The tart pepperyness of the salad was perfect.

This was probably the best pizza I've ever made. It was verging in too sweet, so next time I'll use maybe some coarse salt on top, or maybe even a few anchovies. But over all it got great reviews from Miss J. 

CSA Abundance: Onion Marmalade

For quite some time I have wanted us to subscribe to a CSA farm -- that's "community supported agriculture" to you -- and this year we finally did. For some money up front, you get a share of the produce a small farm produces. We chose Lagoner Farms, and couldn't be be happier with the result. The produce we have received from Lagoner Farms has been really outstanding and they are very nice people, to boot.

The only downside (which is not a downside at all) is that we have gotten a LOT of some stuff. For example, I use a lot of onions in our cooking. Miss J and I think if a little onion is good, then a lot of onion is better. But even we couldn't eat 3 big onions a week for 3 weeks. So what to do? Make Onion Marmalade, of course!

Onion Marmalade is in the categories of things labeled "Things I want to try but not right now. " Nine onions in a three week period moved this item up in the list, and so one Saturday, I found myself weeping quietly over some lovely onions. And weeping I was. I usually read five to ten recipes online before I launch myself into a new project, and I can't believe that NOT ONE of the authors mentioned crying. But the result was worth it.

I like "My Husband Cooks" recipe best as a starting place. You can check it out here.

Onion Marmalade
Ingredients:
4 cups onions (sliced thin)
2 T bacon fat (If you don't have bacon grease in your fridge, well, too bad for you. Use oil.)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 T port wine (I would have used red wine but I didn't want to open a bottle for 2 T.)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 bay leaf
1 tsp salt

Directions:
1. In a non-reactive pan, melt the bacon fat and add the onions and salt. Cook until the onions are beginning to turn brown, stirring every 5 minutes or so. Be careful -- just a little bit of burning makes the whole mess taste bitter and yucky.
3. Add the sugars, port wine, bay leaf, and balsamic vinegar. Cook over medium heat until until the onions are soft and the juicy part is thick. This will take about 40 minutes. Keep an eye on things -- you don't want it to burn or turn into concrete.

4. Remove the bay leaf and cool. Transfer to a glass or plastic container with a good lid. This will last quite a while in the fridge.