Bell Pepper, Red Onion, and Goat Cheese Pizza

Towards the end of the summer, my CSA was completely swamping me with bell peppers. Gorgeous shades of red, yellow and orange. Now, being swamped with sweet bell peppers is a wonderful way to be swamped. I have no complaints, especially since they cost a zillion dollars a pound.

But still, I was swamped. What to do? What to do? I knew that they would come in handy through the year, but I just didn't need all of them right at that very moment.

I always freeze my hot peppers because they are so prolific and one can only eat so many hot peppers a day. But I had never frozen bell peppers, since I usually only buy them on an as-needed basis. Getting out my trusty Ball Book of Canning and Preserving (because it has a chapter on freezing), I saw that I could easily freeze bell peppers. So, I halved them, seeded them and tossed them in ziplock bags and into the freezer they went.

Now, frozen bell peppers cannot be substituted in a recipe that calls for raw bell peppers. They are just too mushy. But they are perfect for recipes where you are going to cook them, like this Bell Pepper, Red Onion and Goat Cheese Pizza from The Bon Appetit Cookbook: Fast Easy Fresh my favorite weeknight cookbook.

Bell Pepper, Red Onion, and Goat Cheese Pizza with Thyme
adapted slightly
Serve 2-4

1/4 cup olive oil
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
6 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 large yellow or green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

1 14-ounce purchased pizza crust, or your own homemade
5 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

Preheat oven to 500. Heat oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion and garlic and saute for about 20 minutes, or until very soft. Add bell peppers and saute for an addition 5 minutes. Mixed in the crush red pepper and season with salt and pepper.

Roll out pizza dough and place on peel or parchment (use purchased if you must). Brush with some of the oil from the skillet. Top with onion-pepper mixture and sprinkle with cheese and thyme. Bake for about 10 minutes or until crust is done to your liking.

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