Pizza with Figs and Gorgonzola

When figs are in season I use them in every way possible. Their sweetness pairs well with the salty and creamy gorgonzola so I combine them in this pizza recipe. The dough is the quick method that I use when I don’t have time to prepare the dough overnight. I will set out my overnight pizza dough in a separate recipe soon.

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Ingredients:

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6-8 ripe figs

3-4 oz Gorgonzola

1 tablespoon honey

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Quick Pizza Dough

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1 cup water

2 1/2 teaspoons yeast or 1 envelope yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cup cornmeal

3 cups flour (approximately)

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Directions:

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Place water, sugar and yeast in the bowl of a food processor. Sprinkle yeast over the water and pulse once or twice to mix. Let rest 5 minutes to dissolve.

Add olive oil and cornmeal and pulse a couple of times to blend.

Add 2 cups flour and pulse a few times to mix the flour with the liquid ingredients. Add the rest of the flour until dough forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Continue processing until dough pulls together and develops elasticity.

Remove to a floured surface and finish kneading by hand, adding more flour but not too much so the dough remains light.

Place ball of dough in an oiled bowl, turning dough to cover with the oil. Let rise until doubles, about 2 hours.

If you need more time then either deflate the dough and let it rise once more or place the bowl with the dough in the fridge until you are ready. Bring it to room temperature before proceeding with rolling the dough and shaping the pizza.

When ready to proceed turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and cut into 4 pieces. Keep the extra pieces covered while you work with each one. With a rolling pin or with your hands roll the dough into a rough circle (it doesn’t have to be a perfect round, rougher shaped pizza are very attractive). Keep the edges slightly thicker than the center.

Lay the dough round on a parchment paper, it makes it easy to transfer it into the oven. Brush it with olive oil and scatter some of the Gorgonzola over the dough. Arrange a few slices of figs over the cheese and scatter a bit more cheese over the figs.

Use a pizza peel or a wide spatula that will fit the entire pizza with the parchment to lift the pizza and then slide the dough still on the parchment sheet onto the pizza stone in the oven. Bake in a 450-500℉ oven until crisp. After a few minutes you can quickly pull out the parchment from under the pizza and let it finish cooking directly on the stone.

When pizza is ready remove it from the oven and slide onto a cutting board. Drizzle with the honey, slice into wedges and serve immediately.

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