Pastrizza!

Voila! I have coined a new culinary term - Pastrizza! I googled to check if it was taken and well, I did not find the word.. So it's all mine! I know you are curious, so let me jump right in to the description. It is something between a tart and a pizza made of puff pastry and with whatever filling, sweet or savory, you like. I hit upon this brilliant concept, when I had to make a quick dinner that was not boring, super easy to make and well, ofcourse, very flavorful.

So, who doesn't like pizza?! It's the ultimate comfort food - the crust, the cheese, the overall goodness. Ah! I love it and could really have it everyday. The only problem aside from being, well, unfortunately unhealthy is that it's not so customizable. So I thought "What if I deconstruct the idea of a pizza and a roll and also turn the volume up a bit?" And the bulb went on!

I used store bought puff pastry (which always in my freezer) and made a super easy topping of caramelized onions, sausage and swiss cheese. And to turn the volume up, I used a homemade cheese spread as a base for the pastrizza. The idea for the spread came from one of Giada's recipes.

The spread is just great on a pizza or a sandwich. And since it is made from real cheese, it melts in the heat of the oven and creates this wonderful cheesy base that adds so much more flavor. And, the puff pastry makes for a light, flaky crust with lots of crunch. It's real fun to eat!

And what a cool idea for entertaining!! You can make mini-pastrizzas and serve as appetizers or just make it a casual meal with different kinds of toppings.

Pastrizza - Caramelised Onions and Sausage with a Dijon and Jarlsberg Spread

1 puff pastry sheet, thawed

1 spanish onion julienned

2 spicy sausages with casing removed

1/2 cup grated swiss cheese

1 egg + 1 tsp water beaten for egg wash

1 tsp Italian seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

For the cheese spread:

1 cup grated Jarlsberg or any Swiss cheese; Gruyere would be great too!

1 T Dijon mustard

2 T room temperature butter

1/2 tsp minced garlic

To make the cheese spread, blend all the ingredients in a food processor until smooth and creamy and spreadable.

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large frying pan, brown the sausage. To the same pan, add the onions and saute until they are almost cooked. Season with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Toss and cook for a minute more and take off the heat.

Meanwhile, place the puff pastry sheet on a well-floured surface and roll it out to about a 10" x 12" rectangle. Spread the cheese mixture evenly leaving a 1 inch border on all sides. Pile on the onions and sausage mixture distributing it evenly across the base. Apply the egg wash on the one inch exposed borders. The wash will help the pastry to come out nice and golden!

Place the pastrizza on a baking tray and bake for 30 minutes or until the sides are puffed and golden. Transfer to a tray and let it sit for 2-3 minutes before serving.