2 tablespoons chopped, fresh oregano

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly flour a work surface. Find the lengthwise seam in the French bread dough. Beginning at seam, gently unroll dough onto floured surface.

Stretch into a 13-inch circle and roll the outer 1 inch to form an edge. Sprinkle a pizza pan or baking sheet with the cornmeal. Move the dough round onto pan.

In a large, non-stick skillet over medium-high, heat olive oil. Add onions and sauté 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove to a bowl. Add mushrooms to skillet and sauté about 8 minutes, until liquid has mostly evaporated. Remove to bowl with onions.


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Add tomatoes and sauté about 5 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add to bowl with onions and mushrooms.

To assemble, spread onion mixture over crust, leaving a quarter-inch border. Sprinkle evenly with cheeses and bacon. Bake 12 minutes, until crust is lightly browned. Sprinkle on parsley and oregano and bake about 3 minutes longer. Makes six servings of two wedges each.

Pesto pizza

Not that we find any fault with traditional yeast-based pizza crust, but we really love the flaky, delicate mouth feel of crusts created from puff pastry or phyllo. Hence, this recipe. And the next.

Our simple pesto pizza couldn't be easier and can serve well as a weeknight supper or as an appetizer at a dinner party. Gild it any way you like, but don't overdo it with "wet" stuff.

You can make your own pesto since the basil in your garden hasn't frozen yet. And you can use your own tomatoes. But you can also use storebought ingredients in the colder weather.

Non-stick cooking spray

1 sheet frozen puff pastry (half of a 17-ounce package), thawed

1/2 cup best quality prepared (or store-bought) pesto

1 cup cooked, well drained, crumbled Italian sausage (hot or sweet)

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained, patted dry, finely diced, then patted dry again

Thinly sliced fresh basil, optional

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a (rimmed) baking sheet with cooking spray; dust with about 2 teaspoons cornmeal.