Fig and Prosciutto Pizza

On last Saturday's episode of The Pioneer Woman on the Food Network, she presented a recipe for fig and prosciutto pizza. In her version she uses fig preserves for the sauce, mozzarella for the cheese and arugula leaves on top. As I watched her make the pizza, I knew that I wanted to make it but with a few changes.

For the past several weeks I had noticed that Central Market had fresh figs in large bins. I'll be honest, until I made this pizza I had never tasted a fig before, not even via a Fig Newton cookie. So until last weekend, I would look at the figs and keep walking. Now I have a reason to stop and pick up a whole bag of figs!

Knowing that figs were in season, I decided to replace the fig preserves used by the Pioneer Woman and instead use fresh sliced figs. Also, I'm not a huge fan of arugula so I knew that there was no way that I would eat a pizza with a large bunch of arugula on top. That said, by eliminating the fig preserves I now needed a sauce, so I decided to make an arugula pesto to use instead.

The final change I made was to use gorgonzola in place of mozzarella, largely because gorgonzola is often paired with figs so I knew it would be a natural fit. Unfortunately, I got a little too liberal with my distribution of the gorgonzola, forgetting that it would melt and spread. The result was a really strong bite of blue cheese in places. The overall flavors were still great, I would just recommend using much less cheese. I've changed the recipe below to reflect that fact.

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Fig and Prosciutto Pizza


Ingredients
Pre-made pizza dough (I used the Pioneer Woman's recipe)
Arugula pesto
8 black mission figs, sliced
4 ounces crumbled gorgonzola cheese
1/3 lb thinly sliced prosciutto

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
Roll out the dough on a floured surface to the desired thinness.

Transfer to a lightly greased baking sheet.

Using a spoon or pastry brush, spread a layer of arugula pesto onto the dough.

Sprinkle the gorgonzola on top, careful not to overdo it. If your pizza looks like mine below, you've put too much!

Next, place the fig slices on the cheese, being sure to distribute evenly.

Place in the oven on the lowest rack and bake for 12 minutes, or until the dough is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly.

Now place the proscuitto on top of the figs. The heat of the pizza will warm the prosciutto without the hardening that would happen in the oven.

Now slice it up and enjoy!

Arugula Pesto

In grad school I worked at a coffee and wine bar in College Station, Terrazzo. In addition to serving gourmet coffee and fine Italian wine, Terrazzo also provided delicious paninis. My favorite panini included prosciutto, mozzarella and arugula pesto. It was divine.

Normally I am not a fan of arugula, it's strong flavor overpowers salads in a way that I do not prefer. But in the pesto, the pepperiness is tampered by the garlic, cheese and olive oil but not eliminated. This batch was used, first as the sauce for pizza, recipe coming tomorrow, and later as spread for a turkey sandwich. In both instances, the stronger flavor from the arugula, as opposed to the basil in most pestos, was able to maintain its strength of flavor without overpowering, as when using fresh arugula, or being overpowered, as with standard basil.

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Arugula Pesto


Ingredients
1 bunch fresh arugula, leaves removed from stems
1/2 cup walnut halves
1/2 cup grated pecorino romano
1/2 cup olive oil
6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions
Heat a dry skillet over medium heat and add the walnuts to toast until fragrant. Remove to a plate. In the same skillet, place the garlic cloves and toast until small brown spots appear, add to the walnuts.

Thoroughly rinse the arugula to remove all dirt, pull leaves from stems and place in the bowl of a food processor.

Add the walnuts.

Peel the garlic and add them to the bowl as well.

Add the cheese and salt.

Turn on the processor then drizzle in the olive oil while running.

Enjoy on a sandwich, as a sauce for pizza, with roasted veggies or with pasta.
Source: Adapted from Simply Recipes