You know when you walk in the door tired and cranky and want something good for dinner, like, right now? In those situations my MO is to melt cheese on something and call it a meal. Got crackers? I’ll melt cheese on those. A stale tortilla? Get some cheese and garlic salt on that bad boy and throw it under the broiler for a moment and dinner is done. Toast? Yes please. I’ll have a thin scraping of Marmite then a bit of sharp cheddar melted on top.
Moments like these are the reason I’m a compulsive meal planner and an obsessive freezer stasher. But let’s be real, there are times even the best-made plans fall to the wayside and what you need is a quick and easy pizza for dinner.
Now here’s the thing. I looooove making pizza from scratch. Love it. I like making the dough, letting it proof, and sliding a fancy pizza from my peel onto my hot hot hot baking steel (a generous gift from my mother in law). I love all of that, but in my world that kind of pizza making is strictly reserved for weekends, and special weekends at that.
And there’s something else you should know: I live on top of a pizza place. Actually, I live on top of a bar and my neighbour lives on top of the pizza place, but the point is that it’s close enough to pad downstairs in my stretchy pants, order a pizza, and have it in my hands in under 10 minutes without having done any work.
So if I’m there’s a pizza emergency (they happen) or if I’m going to bust out a weeknight pizza, it had better be fast and it had better be good. Enter the pita pizza.
Oh hai pita pizza, you sultry minx. You quick and easy weeknight meal. You blank canvas for pizza topping goodness. Let’s fancy you up.
This is super simple: pitas are brushed with a touch of olive oil, then topped with whisper-thin slices of pear, a crumble of strong blue cheese, some slivers of red onion, and a few walnuts. A quick bake in the oven and you’ve got yourself a highbrow / lowbrow dinner you can feel good about.
The pear practically melts into the pizza and becomes both topping and sauce. The blue cheese gets melty but still holds its ground, and the walnuts get toasty and provide a bit of crunch. Let me assure you you'll feel veeeery fancy when you eat this pizza. Even if you're wearing stretchy pants.
Hey, in a perfect world these would be whole-wheat pitas, but I can’t find them where I live. Actually, in a perfect world I’d make a bunch of home made whole-wheat pitas or pizza shells and have them stashed away in the freezer, but that necessitates freezer space I just don’t have. One day I’ll convince the husband we need a deep freezer (or one day I’ll just buy a deep freezer while he’s on a business trip) and all will be right with the world, but until then I’m toughing it out with plain ol’ pitas.
No matter how you slice it, you’re eating pizza. This is a bit of an indulgence, so maybe keep pita pizzas on reserve for just every once in a while. I like to keep them on reserve for when the husband is away on a business trip and I can have a cheeky single lady night in with a pita pizza, some wine, and half a dozen episodes of Grey’s Anatomy back to back. Oh yeah.
One year ago: Kale and Black Bean Breakfast Tacos
pear, walnut, and blue cheese pita pizzas
Ingredients
- 2 medium pitas
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ½ of a ripe pear sliced very thinly
- ¼ of a small red onion sliced into thin slivers
- 2 - 3 tablespoon crumbled blue cheese
- 2-3 tablespoon chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F.
- Place the pitas on a baking sheet and brush each pita with olive oil.
- Arrange pear slices over the top in a single layer, followed by onion slivers, blue cheese crumbles, and lastly the walnuts.
- Place the baking sheet into the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, until the pitas are brown, the pears are soft and golden, and the cheese has melted slightly.
- If needed, finish the pita pizzas under the broiler for 1-2 minutes, watching them very carefully.
- Remove from the oven and let the pita pizzas cool for 2 minutes, then slice into quarters and serve immediately.
Rebecca @ it's a nourishing thing says
I love that you put pears, walnuts and blue cheese together. That sounds like a heavenly combination.
Katie Trant says
It is! And such a quick and easy dinner.
Jessica | A Happy Food Dance says
These look amazing ! I've never thought of a pita pizza - even though we always have pita at our house! Must try this!
Katie Trant says
Pita pizzas are so great for those quick and easy gotta have pizza right now moments. If you've always got pita in your house you're never much more than 15 min away from a pita pizza!
Tash says
You and your neighbour must have crazy quantities of will power indeed! But I wouldn't trade this pizza in for anything! Delicious combo 🙂
Katie Trant says
You haven't tried the pizza! It's not willpower so much as ambivalence!
Jenny @ BAKE says
I can't wait to try this! I love a good pitta pizza, and your toppings sound so sophisticated! I am so impressed by your will power not to order take-away pizza every night, I can't say I would be that strong!
Katie Trant says
It's sophisticated yet simple! And truly, it isn't about willpower so much as the pizzas being pretty subpar. If it was a brilliant, gourmet pizzaria we'd have problems!
kellie@foodtoglow says
You live above a bar *and* a pizzeria! What willpower you have 😉 Seriously, lovely looking quick pizza. I make something very similar (but with grilled chicory and terrible photos that won't see the light of day!) and love the flavour combination SO much. But you can only really eat it at this time of year or it feels wrong. Super yum! Love the use of pitta for a quick midweek pizza fix. Good for portion control, too.
Katie Trant says
It's less about willpower and more about how horribly subpar Swedish pizza is. I mean, it'll do in a dire emergency, but when you could have substantially better pita pizzas in basically the same amount of time, why bother? Good point about the portion control - I totally should have honed in on that.