Fig and Gorgonzola Pizza with Balsamic Caramelized Onions and Prosciutto
Making pizza at home allows you to be creative with your ingredients experimenting with different types of dough, sauces, and toppings to create a pizza that suits your taste precisely. When you make pizza yourself, you can control the quality of those ingredients and make them as healthy or indulgent as you like. Pizza making at home can be a fun and educational activity for the whole family, providing an opportunity for children or non-cooks to get hands-on experience with food preparation and cooking.
Of course, there's something about a pizza coming right out of your oven that makes it exceptionally delicious. One thing that I find satisfying is the ability to use local ingredients or items from our own garden. We're highlighting figs from a farm down the road in today's recipe and topped the pizza with arugula from our kitchen garden. Perhaps you have some fruit, cheese, or other comestible from a nearby purveyor who will inspire you equally.
We also used the Balsamic Caramelized Onion recipe from last May as one of the ingredients, so if you enjoyed that recipe in some of your sandwiches over the summer, try it here, too!
By the way, I'm curious. Do you use a pizza stone in your oven, or have you jumped on the Ooni pizza oven bandwagon or perhaps even have a full pizza oven in your backyard? Let us know your thoughts about ingredients and methods in the comments!
Fig and Gorgonzola Pizza with Balsamic Caramelized Onions and Prosciutto
Did you know that Corning is also home to a good sized organic fig business? Maywood Farms has grown 5 varieties of figs on 172 acres just south of us since 1981, and many of you have likely enjoyed their premium fruit in stores and restaurants in the Western US. Their Black Mission Figs are the inspiration behind this week's recipe, a somewhat indulgent pie, which will yield no leftovers.
Mix warm water (110° F to 115° F) with the sugar to dissolve. Add the yeast and stir. Let stand for about 3 to 5 minutes to make sure the yeast is active (proof)
Add the olive oil to the proofed mixture
Mix the flour and salt in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the yeast mixture and stir to combine.
Run the mixer on low speed for 10 to 15 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Alternatively mix the dough by hand until it forms a ball and kneed for the same amount of time until the dough reaches that consistency.
Take the dough out of the bowl and oil the bowl with a little olive oil. Put the dough back in the bowl, making sure the whole ball of dough is covered with oil, and cover with oiled plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours or until it doubles in size. Or place the dough in the fridge overnight for use the next day. When cold it rises more slowly but it will still double in size
Place an oven stone or a large baking sheet in the middle rack of the oven. Preheat the oven to 500°. The stone or baking sheet needs to be very hot when sliding the pizza onto it.
Once it’s finished rising, divide the dough into three balls. Cover them with oiled plastic wrap. Flatten the ball with your hand and make a higher rimmed edge with your fingers. Lift the edge and let the dough stretch as you rotate the edge of the dough with your fingers. Once the dough has stretched to about 12” or is about 1/4 inch thick place the dough on a pizza peel dusted liberally with corn meal. Shake the peel to make sure the dough moves freely back and forth. Alternatively use a rolling pin to form the dough into thin rounds about 1/4 inch thick.
Cover the dough with about 1/2 cup of the balsamic caramelized onions making sure to evenly cover the top with the onions. Use more or less to your liking. Add the crumbled Gorgonzola evenly over the onions. Drape the prosciutto strips onto the top a few inches apart from each other.
Cut the figs and dip each fig, cut side down, into the 2 Tbs of Balsamic Vinegar to glaze each cut side. Place the figs cut side up on the pizza.
Drizzle the pizza with extra olive oil before baking.
Shake the pizza off the peel onto the hot surface of the stone or sheet pan aiming towards the back of the stone or sheet. Bake the pizza for about 10 minutes or until the pizza is browned and the cheese is bubbly. Rotate the pizza half way through the baking process if it’s browning unevenly. When done use the peel by sliding it under the pizza and lift it out of the oven. Place a few fresh arugula leaves onto the pizza, and lightly drizzle with more oil before slicing and serving.
Here's yet another way to enjoy a simple Bianco Balsamic vinaigrette by softening and acidifying fresh cabbage for an instant version of a fermented favorite. Featuring Coratina EVOO.
The thin crispy crust, acidic tomato sauce base, and bright tangy marinated artichoke hearts provide a good balance to the unctuous umami of the sweet Italian sausage, chewy umami of the crimin...
