Elevate your pizza game up 47 levels on the YUM scale with this Spiced Pork Flatbread with Caramel Sweet Potato Pizza Sauce! Apple Caramel Creams® are the secret to this unbelievably delicious sauce!
This post is being sponsored by Goetze’s Candy Company featuring their Caramel Apple Creams® candies (which are seriously one of the best candies on the face of the planet!). All opinions of these ABSOLUTELY AMAZING candies are mine.
So hey… people I am bursting at the seams about this recipe. You guys all know I am a HUGE pizza snob because simply put, pizza is my all time favorite food ever. Like it takes a lot for me to post a pizza recipe or ever recommend a place that sells pizza. Perhaps it stems from running a family pizza shop for years that had seriously good pizza or the fact that I know I make one epic mean pie. All I know is I. KNOW. PIZZA. As you know I teamed up with Goetze’s Candy company last month to bring you that insane caramel infused chicken burger that took over social media. Oh, sure I got a lot of “Seriously, Lor??? Candy in a burger?” comments but every person that tried it became addicted to it. It’s THAT good!
This month my friends at Goetze’s Candy Company challenged me again to see how else or how much further I could push the proverbial envelope again with these candies. I had a few ideas (still do so I can’t wait to work on more recipes for them) but for this one, I kept coming back to pizza. Maybe it’s because I was craving pizza.
Who am I kidding? I’m always craving pizza.
So anyway, I was in the process of roasting up a garlic herbed pork tenderloin (full disclosure it’s because I was cleaning out my freezer and happened to find a pork tenderloin in it) when a huge box arrived for me from Goetze’s Candy Company. When I opened it I wanted to pass out in delight and do the happy dance in my kitchen as they sent me 25 pounds of Caramel Creams® candies! We’re talking Caramel Apple, Original Vanilla, Chocolate with White Cream, Chocolate with Chocolate Cream and Strawberry Cream. So as the pork was cooking I was sampling all of the flavors. Okay folks SERIOUSLY, you need to buy every single flavor. And if you can’t find it a local store go to their website and buy them all starting with the Caramel Apple!
So as I was snacking on these I kept thinking about pizza to use these candies in. As I was on my 4th Caramel Apple Cream (shush, don’t judge me!) that’s when it hit me. “OMG! Apples and Pork go amazing together! And you can put anything on a pizza!”
And that’s where this sexy picture below comes into play (points down ↓)
As I melted down some of the delicious candies into a beautiful caramel pink color I thought about putting tomatoes in it to make a more traditional type pizza sauce but then I figured I’d “live a little!” as my Grandma used to say and go bold on this. I needed to add some depth to this caramel similar to how tomato paste is thus is where the roasted sweet potato came into play. Sweet potato is something I often will use when I want to thicken up a sauce that I don’t want to use tomato paste (kitchen hint there folks!). Next, I threw in some traditional pizza sauce seasonings – oregano, basil, salt, pepper and to balance out the sweetness, a few red pepper flakes. To thin it out I went with water. To get it all nice and smooth, a quick whirl of the immersion blender and I was good to go.
To keep it simple I went with a homemade flatbread though you could totally go with storebought flatbread or naan. Or yes, you can totally go with it on traditional pizza dough.
As I was topping the pizza, I decided to add in some pears because apples and pears ROCK with pork (and sweet potatoes!). Since I wanted to sauce to be the star of this dish I wanted a cheese that wasn’t going to get all ooey and gooey thus I went with feta. Feta cheese for me, while bitey, pairs really well with pork. Now had I had red grapes I would have most certainly put grapes on this pizza before I cooked it. Trust me on this, roasted grapes are killer!
Once it baked I added some arugula on it for flavor, texture, and color. And to kick it up a notch, a sprinkle more of red pepper flakes and cracked black pepper. Remember since this has spiced pork on it, you want the flavors balanced all the way around. Trust me though, it’s not “hot” but rather well balanced. It’s the perfect amount of heat. However if you were Papa Fantabulous you’d add a few tablespoons of red pepper flakes. I swear if that man could put red pepper flakes on his cereal he would. LOL
Now I’d like to say Mr. Fantabulous loved this but I won’t. In fact, he never tried it nor did he even see it until I was editing the photos. You see I ate the whole thing. Yes, the ENTIRE thing! It was so amazing that I couldn’t stop myself. I actually was dipping my crust into the extra sauce just because well, I could.
So does this taste like your standard red sauce pepperoni pizza? Absolutely not and it shouldn’t. What this should taste like is pure sophistication and deliciousness. You’re elevating your pizza game and yes, growing up. *GASP!* Yes, Junior, you’re becoming an adult and realizing that there is more to life than frozen plain pizzas and chicken fingers. You’re in the big league here folks and this pizza will definitely kick up your pizza ninja skills!
Now what are you waiting for??? Go get you some Caramel Apple Creams® !
Spiced Pork Flatbread with Caramel Sweet Potato Pizza Sauce
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- Yield: 4-6
Ingredients
Caramel Sweet Potato Pizza Sauce
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 – 12-ounce bag Goetze’s Caramel Apple Creams®
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 3/4 teaspoon basil
- 3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
- I cup roasted sweet potato (about 1 large potato)
- 3/4–1 cup water
Pork
- 1 1/2 lbs pork tenderloin, patted dry
- 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
- 1 teaspoon basil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon oregano
Pizza and Toppings
- 1 cup crumbled feta
- Arugula
- 1–2 pears, peeled and cubed
- Olive oil
- 4–10” round Prepared Flatbread or Naan pizza shells
- Red Pepper flakes
- Black Pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425F, rack in the middle. Line a rimmed baking pan with foil and place a cooling rack inside.
- In a bowl, mix the seasonings for the pork. Coat the pork on all sides with the herb mixture, place the pork on the pan and roast for 40-50 minutes or until the internal temperature reads 145F. Remove from the oven and loosely tent. Reduce the heat on the oven to 400F.
- While the pork is roasting, make the sauce. In a medium saucepan over low heat, add the cream and 20 Caramel Apple Creams® (save the rest for snacking!). Stir until melted and creamy. Add in the potato, sauce seasonings and 3/4 cup of water. Stir gently to combine.
- Using an immersion blender (or pour into a stand blender) mix the ingredients until smooth, creamy and spreadable. If it is too thick, add a bit more water. The mixture should not be runny but should spread out easily like pizza sauce. Taste for seasoning. Set aside.
- Peel the pears and chop into 1/2” chunks. Next slice the pork into 1/4” slices.
- To assemble the pizza, place the flatbread or naan shells onto a pizza screen or baking sheet. Top the pizzas with a 1/4 cup off prepared sauce spreading it about to 1/2” from the edge.
- Top with slices of pork, chunks of pear, and feta. Bake for 8-12 minutes or until the crust is slightly crispy and the feta has softened.
- Remove from the oven, plate and top with fresh arugula, red pepper flakes, fresh black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.
For another mouth-watering recipe featuring Caramel Creams® check out my Caramel Infused Apple Cheddar Chicken Burger! It’s the latest burger trend right now!
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