Pizza My Heart

All of my favorite things, loaded on to a simple crust, makes for a pizza to fall in love with: fresh, seasonal figs, thinly sliced prosciutto, pungent and yummy gorgonzola cheese, a hint of balsamic and topped with fresh, peppery arugula. Sighting a display of figs at the farmer’s market this week, I was inspired to use them in this Bon Appétit recipe. While I usually like to prepare my pizza dough from scratch (see below), I knew I had some Trader Joe’s fresh-packaged variety in my frig. I also remembered that I had quite a bit of spinach in the crisper so I substituted it for the arugula (the arugula is really better on this but the spinach was a nice change).

Pizza with Prosciutto, Figs, Gorgonzola and Arugula

Cornmeal (for sprinkling)*

1 lb. pkg. purchased pizza dough**

2 cups (generous) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese (about 8 oz.)

6 small fresh figs, cut into about 1/3” thick slices

2 Tbl. balsamic vinegar, divided (use fig balsamic, if you can)

8 thin slices prosciutto

1 Tbl. extra-virgin olive oil

8 cups arugula

Preheat oven to 450º. Sprinkle large rimless baking sheet generously with cornmeal. Roll out dough on floured work surface to 12 X 10 inch rectangle; transfer to prepared sheet. Sprinkle Gorgonzola over dough. Sprinkle with pepper. Place figs in medium bowl and drizzle 1 tablespoon vinegar over. Set aside.

Bake pizza until crust is golden brown on bottom, 15 to 20 min. Immediately drape prosciutto slices over, covering pizza completely. Arrange fig slices atop prosciutto. Bake until figs are just heated through, about 1 min. Transfer pizza to cutting board. Whisk remaining 1 tablespoon vinegar and oil in large bow; add arugula. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Mound salad atop pizza. Cut into pieces and serve.

*I didn’t have any cornmeal on hand so skipped using it to prep pan and the pizza did fine. Source: Bon Appétit

**Pizza Dough

1 pkg. active dry yeast

1 ¼ cups lukewarm water

3 cups unbleached flour

1 ½ tsp. salt

1 Tbl. olive oil

In large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in ½ cup lukewarm water. Let it proof for 10 min. Add the flour, salt, olive oil and remaining water. Mix well and knead until the dough is smooth, about 10 min. This can be done by hand or with an electric mixer with a dough hook. Add more flour as necessary to make a smooth, silky dough.

Put the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with a cloth, and set aside in a warm place until it doubles in bulk. This should take 1 hour or longer. Punch down the dough and let it rest for another 10 min. It is now ready to proceed with rolling into a “regular” pizza or –continue with recipe above--

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I think the “draping” of prosciutto to enclose the whole pizza is such an interesting way of offering up something different. This was plenty for dinner since it even had the salad atop, but it would also be a good accompaniment to a great bowl of minestrone or other favorite Italian soup.

Give it a taste and you’ll see why it’s won its way into our heart.

--the Mother