Prosciutto and Caramelized Onion Pizza

My college town had the most fabulous pizza place called Antonio's. It was so good and well known that anyone driving from Amherst to my hometown (2 1/2 hours away, mind you) would end up with a list of orders to be brought back and warmed up. I even stumbled over a reference to it in The Penderwicks on Gardem Street! It wasn't just the quality of the pizza itself that was so good, but the unique combinations they had on their menu. Until I ate there it never occurred to me that pizza could be topped by anything other than cheese, pepperoni, maybe onions. And sauce was always red.

Always.

Then I tried pizza with a potato on it. And pizza with tortellini on it. White sauce even! All for a dollar per giant slice. To this day everyone I meet who went to school in Amherst will discuss Antonio's when they get together, no matter how long it has been since we left.

When I started making my own pizza dough I was cautious and started with really basic flavors. Then I stumbled on some more unusual toppings on different blogs: asparagus, zucchini, corn. I remember how much we loved Antonio's and then we would experiment. Whatever was in the fridge was fair game and combinations that I saw online would be filed away for future attempts.

This is one that ended up on regular rotation and while I'm sure I am not the first to put prosciutto and caramelized onion together it really was just me throwing some of our favorite things on a pizza. We ended up loving it. The sweet onions are a perfect contrast to the salty prosciutto. The proportions of the toppings can all be adjusted to your personal taste, particularly the cilantro since that seems to be one herb you either love or hate!

What's your favorite or most unusual pizza topping? 

Caramelized Onion and Prosciutto Pizza
Ingredients:

1 recipe of your favorite pizza crust

1/2 cup pizza sauce

1/2-3/4 mozzarella

3-4 slices of prosciutto 

3 tbsp caramelized onion
1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Make the dough according to your recipe.  Once you've gotten the dough into the right shape, spread sauce over it and then cover it with almost all of the cheese. Rip the prosciutto into large chunks and evenly distribute over pizza. Spoon the onions evenly over the pizza then sprinkle the last little bit of cheese over the top and bake per dough instructions. I bake mine 12-15 minutes at 425 after preheating a pizza stone for about 30 minutes.