Pizza with figs and gorgonzola and figs with goat cheese

I brought back a flat of fresh, ripe green figs from the Italian market in Calgary. Ripe figs don’t last too long so I need to use them fast. I made a simple dinner today and thought that a couple of small pizzas with figs and a honey drizzle would be nice as part of dinner, and they were. I made them very simply, with gorgonzola on one pizza and goat cheese on the other. Both got a liberal honey drizzle and a sprinkling of shredded basil and edible flowers from the rooftop garden. Simple is best.

You can make you own pizza dough or buy ready made dough at your local Italian store.

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Ingredients:

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Pizza dough:

1 cup warm water

1 teaspoon instant yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

2 – 2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

Additional olive oil for brushing over the dough

Topping:

4 figs, cut in 6 wedges each

1/2 cup crumbled gorgonzola

1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese

1/4 cup honey, liquid

A handful basil leaves, shredded

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Directions:

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Combine warm eater, yeast and sugar in a small bowl and let the yeast proof and bubble.

Place 2 cups flour and salt in a food processor and pulse a couple of times to blend.

When the yeast is ready add it to the processor together with the one tablespoon olive oil and pulse or process until the dough gather into a soft ball.

Add more flour if the dough is too soft, but you want the dough to be rather soft and sticky.

Transfer the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let rise until the dough doubles in size.

Punch it down and let rise again until doubles in size. You can skip the second rise if you are in a hurry, but the longer you give it the better it will taste.

You can make the dough in advance and keep it refrigerated. When ready to proceed bring the dough back to room temperature and let it rise until doubled.

Roll the dough into two rounds and brush each with remaining olive oil, all the way to the edges.

Reserve a little of the cheese and scatter the rest on the pizza rounds, one with goat cheese, the other with gorgonzola.

Cut the figs into 6 wedges and arrange on top of the cheese.

Scatter remaining cheese over the figs.

Bake on a pizza stone, preheated in a 500 F oven for at least 30 minutes before baking.

Garnish with shredded basil leaves and edible flowers if you have them.

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