"Hand out the devolution guns! Prepare for destiny!... Where's my pizza? "

Its that time again - Pizza hasn't made its appearance in our home for a week or two now, so its time to dust off the pizza pan and have an easy dinner.

This time it was especially easy because I picked up some whole wheat pizza dough from Trader Joes. I love their pizza dough in a pinch, and lately I don't have the time to make my own the way I'd like. Then comes the fun of what to put on top...I found this recipe from Cooking Light and it sounded autumn-y to me. I'm not sure why. The thought of carmelized onions and fennel just brings on the thought of falling leaves (something I sorely miss here in So Cal).

I changed the recipe a bit, cut back on the fennel (Jon says he doesn't like fennel, but with the way he wolfed down the pizza I'm thinking he's never had fennel before), used fresh buffalo mozzarella instead of shredded, a little bit of basil...I think the changes I made really added to the flavor of the pizza, and just as I suspected, it really felt like an autumn pizza, but then again, it could just be my imagination.

Pizza with carmelized onions, fennel, and olives (from Cooking Light)

Ingredients object

1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cups thinly sliced fennel bulb (about 4 small bulbs)
2 cups thinly sliced onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Remaining ingredients:
1 cup pasta sauce
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup coarsely chopped pitted kalamata olives

Preparation

Place dough on a (12-inch) pizza pan or baking sheet coated with cooking spray and sprinkled with cornmeal. Crimp edges of dough with fingers to form a rim.

To prepare the topping, heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add the fennel and the next 5 ingredients (fennel through black pepper), and cook for 20 minutes or until golden, stirring frequently.

Preheat oven to 450°.

Spread sauce over crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border; sprinkle with fennel mixture, cheese, and olives. Bake at 450° for 18 minutes or until browned.