Spotting Dinner - Fig, Goat Cheese, Prosciutto and Arugula Pizza

I've been in such a pizza mood lately. I even bought some ingredients to make pizza for myself this week. When I found eggsonsunday's Fig, Goat Cheese, Prosciutto and Arugula Pizza on TasteSpotting, I knew I'd have to show it off. It's a beautiful pizza. It would be perfect for even a dinner party (done in small versions for something elegant).

Photo from Eggs on Sunday

Fig, Goat Cheese, Prosciutto & Arugula Pizza

via Eggs on Sunday

Ingredients
1 lb pizza dough (I most often use the recipe listed here, using 2 cups AP flour + 1 cup semolina flour)
fig spread (recipe below)
4 ounces fresh goat cheese
about 2 ounces prosciutto
two generous handfuls of arugula, gently tossed with a little olive oil and coarse sea salt

Directions
Preheat the oven to 525 or 550 degrees F with a baking stone inside. Place your pizza crust on a lightly floured pizza peel (or the back of a lightly floured aluminum sheet pan). Spread some fig spread on your pizza crust, enough to coat it but not too thick. Dot with crumbled goat cheese, then slide the pizza onto the baking stone. Bake until the crust is browned and the cheese is melted, about 5-8 minutes. Take the pizza out and top with folds of prosciutto and a mound of dressed arugula.

Fig Spread

This spread is just sweet enough — more like a savory & sweet fig puree than a cloyingly sweet jam.

Ingredients
4 ounces dried black Mission figs, chopped
1 small onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine or ruby port
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar

Directions
Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the sliced onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and caramelized. Add the chopped dried figs, the balsamic vinegar and the red wine, scraping up any brown bits that have accumulated on the bottom of the pan. Once the wine is almost evaporated, add the water and sugar. Simmer to reduce until the water is mostly evaporated and the figs are soft. Pour the mixture into a food processor and puree to the thickness you desire (I like mine fairly smooth.) Remove and cool; store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Makes about 1 cup.

It's great that eggsonsunday includes a pizza dough recipe link in the pizza recipe. Yum. I made homemade pizza once - It was well worth the wait (waiting for the dough to rise). This pizza would be delicious with creamy fontina cheese instead of goat cheese (if you don't like goat cheese). If you're trying goat cheese for the first time (worth trying!) I'd go with a soft and creamy cheive. It's the kind of cheese I like to use for a bunch of different things.

Here's to pizza stones and warm bellies.

-Cait