Pizza at Home - California Date pizza with caramelized onion, bacon, goat cheese, and basil

This week we're in California! Palm Springs to be exact! Besides being known for being very hot, Palm Springs is also known for providing the chewy fruit known as the Date. Palm Springs and Coachella Valley provides 95% of the Dates for the entire United States!

And so I thought it very fitting to theme this week's pizza, and my first California themed pizza to the Coachella Valley Date! 

While we were visiting Palm Springs, we met up with Jacob and all went to the Shields Date Farm to pick up dates. 

Those dates would then be used in my pizza! I chose a combination of Medjool dates (creamy texture and full flavor) and Deglet Noor dates (semi-dry, nutty, and sweet). 

After pitting them, I diced them up finely. They were really sticky too, so I rubbed a light coating of oil over them to separate all the pieces. 

What pairs well with sweet? Usually something savory. I'm choosing caramelized onions and bacon. 

I diced the bacon into strips, heated it on the stove, along with the caramelized onions to make an onion and bacon jam. 

That onion and bacon jam formed the base of my pizza. No sauce needed today. That got topped with a little mozzarella cheese. 

Then on top of that, I sprinkled my diced dates. 

An action shot. 

That's looking pretty good, but I feel it could use a little something more. 

How about goat cheese? Perfect!

And tonight we get to share a pizza meal with Jacob! 

My plate tonight. A Date Pizza along with a slice of Therizza Pizza. 

I was worried the dates would be too chewy, given how many I put on the pizza. Like a Starburst. I was worried for nothing. They cooked up perfectly! A little chewy, but nothing too noticeable. 

I was also concerned that the bacon or caramelized onion would be overpowering. It wasn't. The taste and sweetness of the dates really came through. Awesome!

Theresa said it was very unique, that it was a lot better than she was expecting. She even got a second slice!

The kids... eh. They didn't love it. Whatever. 

The kids were happy to get a pizza each of their very own, with the toppings that they wanted on it. 

Ian is branching out from his typical pepperoni only to something different. Today he's choosing pepperoni, sausage, ham, olives, and mushrooms. 

And Alli went with pepperoni, olives, mushrooms, and grapes. She said next time she wouldn't pick grapes. 

Ian - This is the best pizza combination ever. 

Theresa and Jacob are splitting a pizza. 

That is a whole lot of veggie toppings on your side Theresa. You'd think she was deprived of veggies when she was little and is trying to make up for it now. 

She said she likes it almost more than her Therizza pizza. 

And speaking of the Therizza pizza, we've got to make one of those tonight too. The toppings can vary a little bit, so tonight there's some sausage and goat cheese. 

It was as delicious as usual! Today was a good pizza day! The Date pizza turned out well. My sister-in-law Megan has already asked that I make one for her the next time we get together too.