Sliced Pear Dessert Pizza

Unpleasant Surprise of the Week #1: Learning that when someone slams the door shut in the middle stall of the bathroom at work, the door to the stall left of it will pop open. Wide open. And since it is one of those wheelchair accessible stalls, it may or may not be just about impossible to grab that wide door and shut it without having to get up. 

Unpleasant surprise of the week #2: Not all air poppers are made the same. Some just spew lava hot kernels instead of popped corn.

Unpleasant surprise of the week #3: Forgetting #1 and having it happen again. 

There have been some pleasant surprises. I went jean shopping and actually found jeans I like. That fit well. I'm already making plans to buy about 10 more pairs. I kind of hate finding jeans. It's more like a chore than shopping. 

The other pleasant surprise was this pizza. In fact, it was more than pleasant. It was amazing. Where-have-you-been-all-my-life-I-can't-bake-pears-any-other-way amazing. The pears are thinly sliced and layered loosely on top of pizza dough, then covered with sweetened creme fraiche, golden raisins and praline pecans. The combination of all those flavors on a pizza crust completely blows regular ol' cinnamon sugar dessert pizza out of the water. Have you had praline pecans? They alone are reason to try this pizza. The bit of sweetness and soft crunch that they add is just perfect. If you can't find any at the grocery store, you could always make your own or substitute your favorite sweetened, glazed nut. Do try to find them at your grocery store, though. And then trying to stop sneaking handfuls out of the bag in your pantry multiple times a day. The solution to this, of course, is to make another batch of this dessert pizza to use them up. 

It's a win any way you slice it. 

(Un?)pleasant surprise #3: I'm punny.

Sliced Pear Dessert Pizza

Ingredients

• 1 batch pizza dough (enough for one 12 inch pizza)
• 4 ounces creme fraiche (about 1/2 cup; I've never tried it, but sour cream might work as a substitute.)
• 4 teaspoons light brown sugar
• 2 d’anjou pears
• 1/4 cup golden raisins
• 1/3 cup praline pecans, very coarsely chopped

Directions

1. Prepare the oven (or grill) for baking pizza at 500°F
2. Combine the creme fraiche and sugar in a bowl.
3. Core the pears and slice paper-thin (a mandolin works well for this) to help them cook quickly. You can peel them first, but I prefer to leave the skins on.
4. Roll out the pizza dough into a 12 inch circle.
5. Layer the pear slices on the pizza, loosely folding each slice over on itself for a more airy pizza. Add the raisins and pralines and then drizzle creme fraiche mixture over the top.
6. Transfer to the preheated pizza stone and bake for about 12-14 minutes until the crust is crisp and the edges of the pears are browning.

Prep Time: 10 min Cook Time: 15 min Ready in: 25 min Serves: 4-6

Recipe Source: Adapted from Russ Faulk of Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet.