National Pizza Day: Honey Nut & Pear Pizza

National Pizza Day:
National Pizza Day: Honey Nut & Pear Pizza! Indulge in the celebration of National Pizza Day with a sweet and savory pizza that is pure magic. You’ll love the different textures of the crust, cooked pear, sticky honey, and soft cheese. In fact, there is no better way to celebrate #nationalpizzaday than with this delectable pie!

Pizza is one of the most beloved and ubiquitous foods in the world. From its humble beginnings as a simple flatbread topped with cheese and tomato sauce, pizza has evolved into a culinary phenomenon with countless variations and toppings that satisfy all taste buds. Pizza lovers around the world eagerly anticipate National Pizza Day, a day dedicated to celebrating this beloved comfort food.

National Pizza Day is celebrated on February 9th every year. This day gives pizza enthusiasts the opportunity to indulge in their favorite pies and try new recipes. Additionally, it’s a time to appreciate the flavors, textures, and creativity that make pizza so beloved.

To celebrate National Pizza Day, people usually eat their favorite pizza or try something new. Fortunately, pizza’s versatility allows it to be tailored to suit everyone’s taste buds, whether it’s a classic Margherita or a more adventurous flavor. You can choose from a variety of toppings to create unique and delicious flavor combinations, making pizza a beloved comfort food enjoyed by many.

Versatility of Pizza

One of the best things about pizza is its versatility. There is no shortage of toppings to choose from, and each region of the world has its own take on this classic dish. From the classic Neapolitan pizza to the deep-dish pizza of Chicago, pizza has evolved into a diverse and exciting culinary experience.

Experiment With Different Flavor Combinations

One of the most exciting things about pizza is the opportunity to experiment with different ingredients and flavor combinations. The sweet and savory pizza mentioned in the opening line of this article is a perfect example. With cooked pear, sticky honey, and soft cheese, this pizza is a delightful mix of different textures and tastes.

Pizza is a beloved dish enjoyed by many, thanks to its versatility and wide range of options. Whether you prefer a thin crust or a thick crust, a classic tomato sauce, or a more experimental topping, you can tailor pizza to your preferences. Additionally, you have the option to share this dish with friends and family or enjoy it solo as a comforting treat. Overall, pizza is a versatile food that can be customized to suit any taste, making it a go-to option for any occasion.

National Pizza Day is a celebration of one of the world’s favorite comfort foods. With endless flavor combinations and toppings, pizza is a dish that can be tailored to everyone’s taste buds. 

History of National Pizza Day:

Though flatbreads with toppings were consumed by ancient Egyptians, Romans, and Greeks, the modern birthplace of the pizza is southwestern Italy’s Campania region, home to Naples. Founded around 600 BC as a Greek settlement, Naples in the 1700s and early 1800s was a thriving waterfront city. Technically an independent kingdom, it was notorious for its throngs of working poor, or lazzaroni. These Neapolitans required inexpensive food that could be consumed quickly. Pizza — flatbreads with toppings that can be eaten for every meal — fulfilled this need. These early pizzas featured tasty toppings such as tomatoes, cheese, oil, anchovies, and garlic. More well off Italian authors judged Naples’ innovation, often calling their eating habits disgusting.

In 1861, Italy finally unified, and King Umberto I and Queen Margherita visited Naples in 1889. Legend says that the traveling pair became bored with their steady diet of French cuisine and asked for an assortment of pizzas from the city’s Pizzeria Brandi, founded in 1760. The variety the queen enjoyed the most was called pizza mozzarella, a pie topped with the soft white cheese, red tomatoes, and green basil — much resembling the Italian flag. Since then, this particular choice of toppings has been dubbed the Margherita pizza.

However, even with the Queen’s love for the dish, pizza would remain little known in Italy beyond Naples’ borders until the 1940s. Across the sea, immigrants to the United States from Naples were replicating their flatbreads in New York and other American cities. They were coming for factory jobs, but accidentally made a culinary statement. Relatively quickly, the flavors and aromas of pizza began to intrigue non-Neapolitans and non-Italians alike. (https://nationaltoday.com/national-pizza-day/)

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Honey Nut Pear Pizza

This sweet & savory pizza is pure magic & you will love the different textures of the crust, cooked pear, sticky honey and soft cheese.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Resting Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course dinner, lunch

Servings 2 14-inch pizzas

Equipment

• 1 Pizza Stones
• 1 Pizza Peel
• 1 Stand or hand mixer with a bread dough fitting

Ingredients

  

Pizza Dough

• 3.5 cups Bread flour Plus more for rolling
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 envelope envelope instant dry yeast
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1.5 cups water, 110 degrees F
• 2 tbsp olive oil, plus 2 teaspoons

Pizza

• 1 medium pear, cored and sliced
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup fresh soft cheese such as: goat cheese, ricotta, gorgonzola
• 1/4 cup walnuts
• 3 leaves basil leaves, torn by hand
• 1/4 cup honey for drizzling

Instructions

 

Making The Pizza Dough

• Combine the bread flour, sugar, yeast and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and combine or use a hand mixer4 with the bread dough fitting. While the mixer is running, add the water and 2 tablespoons of the oil and beat until the dough forms into a ball. If the dough is sticky, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together in a solid ball. If the dough is too dry, add additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead into a smooth, firm ball.
• Grease a large bowl with the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil, add the dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in a warm area to let it double in size, about 1 hour. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Cover each with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let them rest for 10 minutes.

Making The Pizza

• Preheat oven to the highest temperature setting (550+ degrees F) with a pizza stone in the middle rack. You can also use a pizza oven. 
• Place your prepared dough onto a lightly floured pizza peel. Start topping the pizza with the mozarella cheese, layer of pears, and fresh cheese of choice. Drizzle honey evenly over the cheese and the pears.
• Place the pizza in the oven onto the pizza stone. Bake about 10-15 minutes. If using a real high heat pizza oven of 900 degrees F the cooking time is 5 minutes. In the last 2 minutes of baking add the walnuts and fresh basil. Take the pizza out of the oven and let it set for a few minutes before cutting.

Notes

Using bread flour will give you a much crisper crust. If you can’t find bread flour, you can substitute it with all-purpose flour which will give you a chewier crust.

You can also play with the flavor by trying different combinations of cheeses and herbs or different types of honey and honey infusions. 

Keyword cheese and honey, honey pizza, pizza

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