Weeknight Dinner: Fig and Prosciutto Pizza

photo: Eric Diesel

The busy month of February is drawing to a close. We checked the status of winter on Groundhog Day, thanking Phil and Chuck for their optimism on the first teasing days of warmth and cursing their shortsightedness on days of lingering cold. That same day, we welcomed Candlemas, that day that marks the halfway point to the spring equinox. Westminster crowned a hound as America’s Dog for the first time in almost thirty years. We cooked seasonally with the winter crop of spicy fennel and sunny oranges. And we celebrated Valentine’s Day not just with cards and kisses but with crisp white wine and a sexy panna cotta.

Rare for us, John and I got away for a winter vacation in the land of sunshine and stardust. A full post on that trip to Los Angeles is forthcoming, but it was the perfect segue to the final entry in February’s social calendar: the Academy Awards. I wrote last year about Academy Awards parties, which we have held annually almost every year since we set up housekeeping and which we theme to a specific film. Due to scheduling, we won’t be having an Oscars party this year in our urban home, but Urban Home still offers plenty to help you host your own glamorous affair. Urban Bar has cocktail recipes from a perfect winter libation invented to recognize the hostess with the mostest to a group-friendly Bloody Mary bar. There are recipes for party-friendly dips and a swanky retro fondue.

If you are expecting guests to watch the Academy Awards, set a flexible arrival time. The entertainment channels will be offering daylong programming for the event so tune the tv there and let guests wallow as you prepare and set out simple, good party food. Stock up on trashy movie magazines and set them out for perusing, and don’t forget a stack of Oscar ballots (along with a vulgar prize for whoever gets the most right). Early arrivals will be glad to help set up the bar, set out bowls of popcorn, or help with any other of the low-key activity that makes this party especially enjoyable for both guest and host.

Pizza is the perfect party food both because everyone likes it and because it can be assembled by the many willing hands that will present themselves to help in the kitchen.  It is always appropriate to call the local pizzeria for a delivery, but have you ever made your own pizza? It’s simpler than it sounds, and the results are worth the effort. Everyone loves red sauce and pepperoni, and here is a recipe for a celebration-worthy white pizza, enlivened with cushy fig preserves and tangy blue cheese, and crowned with lush cuts of prosciutto. Though this pizza is special enough to serve at a party, we frequently have it along with a quick salad for a simple, satisfying weeknight dinner – and thus we are filing it there.

FIG AND PROSCIUTTO PIZZA

This recipe uses a sponge to make the crust, so adhere to the timing below. Order the prosciutto at a good deli counter. Fig preserves are usually offered in dark or green formulations; if you have the choice, get dark, but either will work. If your local grocer or home-canner doesn’t have fig preserves, you can get them at a Mediterranean or middle eastern grocery store. Both walnut oil and grey sea salt, used here for finishing, are nice indulgences to have in your pantry; you can omit them if you wish.

For the crust
1 envelope active dry yeast
1 pinch white sugar
3-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup warm water (between 105-119 degrees F)
3/4 cup cool water
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons salt

For the pizza
8 ounces prosciutto, shaved thin
6 ounces crumbled pungent blue cheese, such as Stilton or gorgonzola
1 jar fig preserves
Three sprigs fresh rosemary
2 medium cloves garlic
1 egg
Extra-virgin olive oil
Walnut oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Grey sea salt

1. Make the sponge: pour the warm water into a large bowl. Add the pinch of sugar to the water.  Open the package of yeast and sprinkle the yeast over the warm water. Let stand uncovered until foamy, approximately 5 minutes.

2. Add 1/4 cup flour to the yeast mixture; stir to combine. Cover loosely with a clean tea towel and let stand until bubbly, approximately 25 minutes. Meanwhile, lightly flour a rolling and kneading surface, such as a clean countertop.

3. After 25 minutes, uncover the bowl containing the sponge. Add the cool water, olive oil, salt and remaining 3-1/4 cups flour to the bowl. Lightly flour your hands turn and knead the dough until the ingredients come together.

4. Use your floured hands to turn the dough onto the floured surface. Knead the dough until soft and smooth, approximately 10 minutes.

5. Lightly coat the interior of the bowl with olive oil. Transfer the kneaded dough back to the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot. Let dough rise until doubled in bulk, approximately one hour.

6. While the dough is rising, spray an 11- x 17-inch rimmed baking sheet with non-stick vegetable spray. Drizzle a two-count of extra virgin olive oil on the prepped surface of the pan.

7. Peel each garlic clove and remove the root ends. Half each clove; remove and discard any sprouting from the center. Slice each half longways into slivers and then each sliver longways into matchsticks. Cut across the matchsticks to mince. Scrape the minced garlic into a small bowl.

8. After one hour, turn the dough back onto the floured work surface. It should be very soft and workable. Punch the dough so that it slightly deflates, then work the dough one or two times by folding the edges into the center and then doing that again.

9. Transfer the punched and kneaded pizza dough to the prepped baking sheet. Use flour hands to press the dough from the center outward to form a nice rectangular crust of uniform thickness and that reaches the edges of the baking sheet.

10. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

11. Hold an egg separator over a small bowl and break the egg over the separator, letting the white fall into the bowl. Decant the yolk into a cup or storage bowl and refrigerate for another use. Use a fork or small whisk to beat the egg white until frothy.

12. Use a pastry brush or flat spatula to spread the egg white evenly across the surface of the pizza dough.

13. Sprinkle the pizza dough with grey sea salt, several grindings of fresh black pepper and the minced garlic. Hold each sprig of rosemary over the pizza and strip the rosemary blades onto the pizza, being sure to distribute them evenly across the surface of the dough.

14. Use the tip of a spoon to dot the surface of the pizza dough with jam preserves, being sure to distribute them evenly across the surface of the dough.  You will probably not use the entire jar of preserves.

15. Sprinkle the blue cheese across the surface of the pizza dough, being sure to distribute it evenly across the surface of the dough.

16. Pull each piece of prosciutto into strips. Lay the strips of prosciutto evenly across the surface of the dough as you go. You may have more prosciutto than you think you need but use it all; it shrinks when heated.

17. Drizzle the pizza with walnut oil.

18. Transfer the assembled pizza to the oven. Bake until crust is golden and puffy, approximately 15 minutes.

19. Remove pizza from oven. Allow to cool for one minute.  Use a pizza wheel to slice into squares and serve.