Caramelized Onion, Fresh Pear, Goat Cheese and Sausage Pizza (Pizza Night!)

I love fruit and cheese plates.  So does my daughter--I still remember when as a kindergartener she ordered one as an appetizer.  So much for encouraging independence!  The bill!
The pairing of fresh pears and goat cheese is classic, and I had so much fun making this pear pizza, but you know there was another half of the pig pear left when I finished.  Since I'd had a hard time deciding between a sweet and a savory base for that pizza, I made the combination again and this time did it savory using a mess of caramelized onions that I'd made in the crock pot.  I also brought in my trusty guest photographer to make artistic 'action' shots.  Because it's Friday Night Pizza Night!

Even though both pizzas had the same type of dough base, and 2 of the same toppings, the results were completely different.  And delicious.  I threw a bit of sausage (from part of a leftover breakfast sausage patty) onto this, but you could leave it off if you desire.  I've loved fruit on savory pizzas since I lived in Germany, and now I'm looking around to see what else I could put on a pizza.  Grapes on a chicken pizza fennel focaccia?  Apples, bacon and cheddar? Peaches and pepperoni? What do you think? Check out my Visual Pizza Recipe Index for all of the pizza doughs, fruit pizzas, meat pizzas, and vegetarian pizzas I share each week on the blog.

Why yes, this photo is sort of similar to another one on this blog.  ;) 

Caramelized Onion, Fresh Pear, Goat Cheese, and Sausage Pizza

1 pound pizza dough
1/2 cup caramelized onions (leftover from this?)
1/2 large pear, thinly sliced (in the photos I left the slices long, next time I will cut them in half)
1/4 cup goat cheese
2/3 cup shredded fontina cheese (or Italian cheese blend)
Italian seasoning blend (I used Penzey's Pasta Sprinkle)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.  On an oiled piece of parchment paper, press dough out into a rough circle shape.  Evenly distribute the onions over top the dough.  Top with pear slices. Dot goat cheese in an artistic manner while your guest photographer takes action shots.  Top with shredded cheese.  Sprinkle Italian seasoning blend over entire pizza.

Slide the whole thing, parchment and all, onto your baking stone (alternatively, place pizza + parchment on cookie sheet on center rack of oven).  Bake for 5-8 minutes, until you can shake the pizza off the parchment and remove the parchment paper.  Continue baking until the cheese is bubbly, another 4-6 minutes.  Remove from oven, cool on a wire rack then slice and serve, and enjoy!
This post is linked with What's In The Box and Food on Friday!