The Fifth Beatle

Some friends of ours introduced us to a delicious pizza with an unlikely name… “The Fifth Beatle.” The masterminds behind this wonder of the pizza world are the guys up at American Dream Pizza in northeast Portland, on Glisan Ave.

This pizza has an interesting and unexpected mix of toppings that I would never have dreamed of putting together myself… Red Onions, Blue Cheese & Hazelnuts (Oregon is the nation’s largest supplier of hazelnuts). The red onions are sautéed to give the a nice, sweet flavor which contrasts with the pungent flavor of the blue cheese. The hazelnuts mellow out the flavors of the other two ingredients and add a bit of a chew/crunch to the softness of the other items. There is a red sauce on this pizza, but it is a very lightly applied sauce, so the sauce is certainly not the first thing you notice when sampling this pizza. All in all this is one our new favorite pizzas. However, Chris & I are big cheese lovers… not sure if this pizza would be nearly as appealing to someone who didn’t enjoy the strong flavor of the blue cheese on it. Still, if you’re not afraid of intentionally moldy cheeses, I highly recommend this.

That’s the upside… the downside is that American Dream Pizza is about a 30 minute drive from our house – either by freeway or surface streets – doesn’t make much difference. So delivery is definitely out of the question, and our ability to just go pick up one of these delectable pies on the spur of the moment is pretty limited as well. My solution? Make our own version of the Fifth Beatle.

I have made this pie twice now and it’s been really tasty both times. Mine is maybe not exactly the same offering as American Dream, but a yummy substitution nonetheless. I made my own dough, directly from a recipe on Recipezaar (my favorite recipe site) and then I used a jar of premade spaghetti sauce. I blend the sauce in my Vita Mix so that it is smooth and doesn’t have the tomato, pepper, and onion chunks that I might otherwise enjoy if they were in spaghetti. The sauce is applied very lightly to a par-baked crust. I use slightly more than ½ of my “normal” pizza amount. Then the mozzarella goes on. There shouldn’t be a ton of it either. American Dream claims that they apply less cheese to this than to a more traditional pie. Then the red onions are sliced & sautéed, cooled, and put on. I think I used about ½ of an onion per pie and sautéed them to a nice carmel color to bring out the sweetness in the onion. The blue cheese is put on – I used an Oregon Blue. Yum! And finally, the hazelnuts are chopped (not too finely) and put on. I baked it in a 425 oven until the cheese was light brown and bubbly.

As I said, this is not an exact replica of the American Dream pizza, but a close enough approximation when you don’t live within a reasonable distance of the original. For anyone who likes blue cheese, or who likes experimenting with pizza toppings, I highly recommend this pie. As I said, it’s a surprising combination of toppings that create a truly sublime pizza experience!