We went to Vermont today to drop off Maria’s wool at the Vermont Knitting Mill, it will be spun and cleaned into yarn and roving. The wool seems to change as the sheep grow up and older, it is softer and has more range of color. Coming home, I decide to try another one of my thin crust pizzas, I am proud of them, they have evolved tremendously since I started making them a few years ago.

Inspired by my friend Scott Carrino, who handed me a delicious sample of a pizza with a thin pear slice cooked on it the other day at the Round House Cafe, I decided to go for a (white) pear and goat cheese pizza. We stopped at a roadside stand in Vermont to get a fresh pear. At no point in my life would I have imagined sharing recipes with friends, readers and strangers on the Internet, but like the wise man said, you have to go with what you are, not what you wish to be.

So here goes.

It was a success, I believe. Maria and I both loved it. I rank it up there with my best pizzas, though my chopped clam/tomato pizza is still pretty high on the list. Some changes:

A couple of months ago, I got a pizza stone to bake the pizza on. And I bought some garlic paste.

I put the stone in the oven at 490 and left it in for 45 minutes to an  hour.

I took out the room temperature wheat flour from the market (I don’t make my own dough like Scott does.)

I trimmed the flour so the crust will be thin and fit on the stone.

I flipped and pulled the dough until it was round and thin. (There is an art to this, it takes patience.)

I rubbed garlic paste (from a tube) onto the crust.

I spread cornbread on the stone so the crust wouldn’t stick to it.

I took the stone out of the oven and put the crust on it.

I left the crust on the stone in the oven for five to seven minutes so it would  harden and be crisp ( don’t like heavy or soggy crust on my pizza).

I brushed virgin olive oil around the rim of the crust.

I sprinkled ground romano cheese lightly across the pizza crust. (I want the pizza to be and feel light.)

I sprinkled goat cheese crumbles over the romano cheese. I thought it would blend well with the pear flavor.

I placed six or seven slices of mozzarella cheese around the outer rim of the crust, one in the center.

I placed a thin slice of pear on each slice of the mozzarella cheese.

More olive oil brushed around the crust.

I put the stone back into the oven with the pizza on it.

I baked it for 9 to 10 minutes, still at 490 degrees. You can go a few minutes longer, depending on how dark you wish the crust to be.

It was very happy with it. The cheese flavors mixed perfectly with the pear, which was warm and fresh and sweet. The crust was thin and crisp, as I like it. The effect of this pizza was of a light, refreshing gourmet  (and organic) meal, it was not heavy or thick with too much cheese. We each had two slices for dinner and saved the rest for lunch tomorrow.

So here it is, recipe-sharing another new dimension to the never ending miracle that is my life. For those who try it, enjoy it. I might make some next Saturday when Pamela Rickenbach comes for her blogging workshop.