Second Helping: Blue and Purple Pizza

After several plane rides, a business trip to Vegas, and a wedding in Long Island last week, my body was shot - and on Monday, I was sick. I spent all of Monday morning stretched out on the couch with the TV remote in my hand - it was blissful, and the rest was just what I needed.

So, when dinner time rolled around, I was feeling almost 100 percent already, but the meal that I ended up making wasn't the best choice visually, as the colors blue and purple were vibrant in this dish. (I never claimed to be normal).

I had half a container of crumbled gorgonzola leftover from last week's Red Wine Burger, so I perused through my cookbooks in hopes of finding a recipe to use my leftover cheese. Finally, in The Frugal Foodie Cookbook, I came across a recipe for Gorgonzola Pizza with Radicchio and Asian Pears. After several revisions, I made a Gorgonzola Pizza with Red Cabbage and Red Wine Pears. And, despite the color combination, it was damn delicious.

Gorgonzola Pizza with Red Cabbage and Red Wine Pears

Yields: 4 servings

-Whole wheat pizza crust (the original recipe called for regular crust; I purchased whole wheat dough at Hannaford for $1.99)

-1/2 head of red cabbage, roughly chopped (or radicchio, if you can find it)

-1 Packham pear, sliced into 1-inch thick pieces ($1.29/lb. at Hannaford; original recipe called for 1 Asian pear)

-1/4 cup red wine (I used Yellow Tail Pinot Noir)

-1/2 5 oz. container of crumbled gorgonzola cheese (the original recipe called for an entire 6 oz. container)

-1 tbsp. olive oil

-1 generous tsp. dried rosemary (the original recipe calls for fresh rosemary leaves - I recommend you use the fresh, if you have them. I only used 1 tsp. here because dried herbs are much more potent in flavor than fresh)

Directions: Put sliced pears in a bowl with red wine, and let set in fridge for at least 30 minutes. On a floured surface, roll out pizza dough to desired thickness. Brush with olive oil. Cover crust with gorgonzola, cabbage, pear slices, and rosemary. Place in 500* oven for 20 minutes.

This pizza was awesome, and really comforting - especially after being away from home for so long. My only gripes are that the pears didn't soak up too much of the wine flavor, and I used a little too much gorgonzola (despite the fact that the original recipe called for a lot more than I used). The intense flavor of the cheese really overpowered the cabbage and the pears. But, I will be making this pizza again - and I highly recommend using the whole wheat crust, for extra flavor and texture.

What's your favorite meal to have/make when you're sick?

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