Pizza! With Spinach, Caramelized Onion and Bacon

I do heart pizza.  It doesn't even have to be gourmet, and I'll probably love it.  But, I do appreciate the fancy stuff too.  This particular pizza is one I would categorize as fancy.  The toppings include spinach, caramelized onion, and bacon.  I think I made it because I had a ton of spinach to use, and pizza just made sense. 

In this instance, I used a regular pizza sauce, but the recipe actually calls for a garlic cream sauce.  On another occasion I made the white sauce version, and honestly, whatever floats your boat is what you should use. 

Hope you enjoy!

Spinach, Caramelized, and Bacon Pizza
found on myrecipes.com

Ingredients

• Pizza dough

Topping:

• 4 bacon slices, chopped
• 1 (10-ounce) package fresh spinach (I used baby spinach)
• 2 cups (1/4-inch-thick) sliced onion 
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup 2% reduced-fat milk (I used whole milk)
• 1 tablespoon cornmeal (did not use cornmeal, used flour instead)
• 1 cup (4 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. To prepare topping, cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 2 teaspoons drippings. Set bacon aside. Add spinach to drippings in pan; sauté 2 minutes or until wilted. Place spinach in a colander, pressing until barely moist. Add onion and 2 teaspoons sugar to pan; cook 12 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; cool.
2. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add 3 tablespoons flour and pepper, stirring with a whisk; cook 30 seconds. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly with a whisk. Cook 5 minutes or until thick and bubbly, stirring constantly with a whisk.
3. Preheat oven to 475º.  If you are using store-bought dough, follow the directions on the package.
4. Roll dough into a 12-inch circle on a floured surface. 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. Spread milk mixture evenly over dough; top with spinach and onion.
5. Bake at 475° for 20 minutes. Sprinkle evenly with bacon and cheese; bake an additional 5 minutes or until golden brown.