Brussels Sprouts Pizza Recipe

This pizza has been exasperating me for the past week. I knew I wanted to put Brussels sprouts on it, but what else? After several prototypes, including red onions on top, pesto on bottom and a failure of a creamy spinach sauce, it finally occurred to me to use balsamic, caramelized red onions as the base. That’s the ticket!

I visited Italy in college and the absence of red sauce on pizzas over there totally shocked my young American self. Like, time out, Rome! You forgot your marinara! Then I conceded that Italians know their pizza and that maybe my quintessential pizza concept was a little off.

Up until then, I thought that pizza consisted of dough plus marinara plus ample amounts of cheese, baked to bubbly perfection. In Italy, though, pizzas are more broadly accepted as baked flatbread with toppings. Maybe marinara, maybe not. Maybe cheese, maybe not. Maybe cooked onions instead, or pesto, or veggies. It’s all fair game. They bake their pizzas on big rectangular pans and sell them on the street. So good.

This pizza may not be for everyone, but I’m a fan. Boldly flavored, semi-caramelized onions with reduced balsamic vinegar, topped with mozzarella and Brussels sprouts (sliced two ways for maximum crispiness and texture) and a sprinkle of Parmesan for good measure. I took a short-cut with whole wheat dough from Trader Joe’s, but my easy whole wheat dough would be even better!

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