Caramelized Onions & BBQ Chicken Pizza

I am convinced that caramelized onions are one of the greatest foods ever invented, and I also love how science makes food awesome. In this case, the Maillard reaction, or the process in which heat breaks down the sugars in foods and causes browning, is what makes the onions taste so amazing (the reaction also applies to baked bread, dulce de leche, french fries...). I would be perfectly happy making a meal out of a bowl full of caramelized onions, but I came up with an even better plan the other night. Chicken + caramelized onions + barbecue sauce on a pizza. My roommates and I barely spoke to each other we were shoveling the pizza into our faces so fast. 

Basically, caramelized onions are fool-proof. You slice up a bunch of onions, put them in a pan with olive oil, salt, and pepper over medium-low heat, and you cook them for a long, long time. That is where patience becomes a virtue. This stuff doesn't instantly become golden, fragrant, and sweet in half an hour. No, it takes more like two hours to get the full effect. But the end product is delicious. 

Don't believe me? Check these out:

Now, before you run off to the store to buy a pound of onions, let me explain what you can do with these when they're done cooking. You can make french onion soup (the real stuff, not the dried packety stuff), mix them into mashed potatoes, put them on pizza (as I did here), toss them with sauteed green beans or asparagus, devour them by themselves while catching up on Netflix... you get the idea. Go crazy. The pizza was a homemade whole-wheat pizza crust that my roommates threw together, topped with a good amount of barbecue sauce, mozzarella cheese, chopped rotisserie chicken, the caramelized onions, and a bit of goat cheese. You can vary the toppings however you like, but BBQ chicken pizza was pretty scrumptious. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some episodes of Downtown Abbey and a bowl full of on... I mean a well-balanced meal to attend to. Happy eating! 

Caramelized Onions 
makes about 2 cups of cooked onions

2 large white onions
2 tablespoons olive oil 
1 teaspoon kosher salt
lots of black pepper

Cut the ends off of each onion, then cut each onion down the middle (cut end to cut end). Peel the papery layer off of the onion halves and discard. Slice the onion halves into 1/4-inch slices and place in a large skillet with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat. Heat the skillet over medium-low heat and begin cooking the onions, stirring about every 10 minutes, until the onions are very soft and a deep brown all over, about 2 hours. They should NOT be burnt or charred, but instead have an even brown coating all over. If they do start to get too dark, cut the heat back and continue stirring or add a bit more oil to the pan. 

I used the entire 2 cups on my pizza, but it all depends on personal preference. Add as much or as little as you like. Yum!