fig and balsamic onion pizza with blue cheese

i can't believe i haven't

told you about this recipe yet.

it's not that i make it a lot -

maybe just twice a year.

but still, it's one of the few

dishes set to repeat in

our kitchen.

it started about five years ago

when - and, i still am embarrassed

to admit this - i learned

that i could just go to the

supermarket or the local pizza place

and buy fresh dough.

how did i not know this?

i have no idea.

i told lauren, who said,

yes, i love it, i use it to

make strombolis and calzones.

hmmm, i had definitely missed

something important.

so i bought dough.

i found this recipe and together,

larry and i roasted squash,

made garlic oil

and decorated the prized dough.

the night felt like a victory -

i was proud

(better than clueless, right?).

so proud,

that i haven't made the recipe

since, but i remember most

of the moments that went down

in the kitchen of my

studio apartment that evening.

after that, i was hooked,

throwing every veggie

i had onto pieces of dough

that were so unevenly rolled

out, a circle wouldn't even

recognize them as its cousin.

i experimented with

chicken apple sausage and rosemary,

feta, spinach and tomatoes,

mixed mushrooms with goat cheese

and so many more.

but one of the only pizzas

to stick was the one i made with

fresh figs

caramelized onions

and blue cheese.

however, i'm not going to lie to you:

i have no idea how it

came to be.

for all my remembering, i cannot

think back to why i first made it,

if any mistakes were made

or what pushed me to make this

particular pizza again.

but i do know that the recipe was mine,

created by what was in my kitchen,

because the second

time around, it did not occur to

me to check my recipe book.

and, i do remember that after

i had made it a few times,

i told a friend

who texted me late one night

to say that she had made the

pizza and loved it (and i remember

that i was jealous because we had

spent the night hanging pictures

in our new apartment

and eating peanut butter

sandwiches for dinner - i knew

i was missing something good

at her house). but, i still don't

remember the beginning.

so, instead of dwelling on

the past, let me tell you about

this pizza. i've made it many

times on store bought fresh

pizza dough - i love it with

multi-grain - and a couple times

on dough that i've attempted

to make myself.

but until recently, i've never

had success making my own dough.

they were always too bready,

or not willing to stretch or roll

or so wet that i got fed up.

a recipe by giada in bon appetit

changed all that. her dough is simple

and its springy and beautiful.

so easy to roll that mine was actually round

and so easy to transport that on the

pizza pan, it was still beautiful.

her recipe called for mixing flour with

sugar and salt before adding the

yeast mixture, but i've opted to add honey

to the yeast instead. also, because

the final product is reminiscent of

focaccia, i love to add

chopped rosemary to the dough.

on top,

well, the star is the figs,

which i sometimes layer on fresh,

and other times saute very lightly first.

but a star needs its supporting characters

and this pizza is bursting with them:

onions that are caramelized until golden

and then coated with balsamic vinegar,

crumbled blue cheese to cut

through the sweetness and recently,

a light sprinkling of fontina cheese,

helping glue the whole thing down.

i've made the pizza a couple times

without the bottom cheese, but it's always

lacking and the toppings tend to

topple off the crust.

all together, it's a pizza that i'm

proud of, that gets me excited

for fig season and that makes

me happy to cut into slices

and serve. it's slightly sweet and

soft, yet tangy and crisp.

and even though its beginning

eludes me, its future on our

dinner menus is very, very clear.

fresh fig and balsamic onion pizza with blue cheese

i do not have a baking stone and therefore, have never made this pizza with one. if you do, adjust accordingly. because i make this pizza on a regular round baking pan, i like to slide it right onto the rack when it's firm enough and let the pie continue to cook until crispy. if that method does not sound good to you, just leave it on the pan. it may not get as crispy, but it will still be lovely. i like the creaminess of danish blue and the mild meltiness of the fontina, but playing around until you find your favorite is always a good idea.

rosemary pizza dough

adapted from bon appetit magazine

3/4 cup warm water (between 110˚-115˚)

1 envelope dry active yeast

1 teaspoon honey

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary

3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for the bowl

place warm water in bowl; sprinkle yeast over water. add honey; stir. let stand 5 minutes, or until yeast dissolves. very lightly oil large bowl; set aside. in food processor, combine flour, salt and rosemary. add remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil and yeast mixture; process just until dough forms.

transfer to a floured surface and knead 1 minute, or until smooth, adding additional flour, if necessary. place dough in bowl, rotating to coat with oil.

cover with clean tea or kitchen towel and place in a warm spot, free of drafts. let sit 1 hour, or until doubled in volume. punch down. using a floured rolling pin, roll into 14" round on floured surface. transfer to pizza pan.

fig and onion pizza

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, divided

1 large sweet onion, peeled, halved and sliced

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

4-6 large fresh black mission figs, trimmed and sliced

1 recipe rosemary pizza dough, above

5 ounces fontina cheese, shredded

2 ounces blue cheese, crumbled

• 
  
• heat oven to 425˚f. while the dough is rising, heat olive oil and half of butter in large skillet over medium heat until oil is hot and butter is melted. add onions; season with kosher salt. cook 25 minutes, or until almost golden brown, reducing heat if onions begin to burn. drizzle balsamic vinegar over onions and stir to combine. cook 1 minute more, or until the vinegar has formed a glaze; transfer onions to plate. let cool.
• 
  
• in same skillet over medium heat, melt remaining butter; add slices of figs. as soon as the last one is in the skillet, flip slices over in the order they were placed in the pan. once they're all flipped, remove and transfer to plate in the same order.
• 
  
• sprinkle shredded fontina cheese over dough, leaving a 3/4" border for the crust. arrange first the onions, then the figs, over the cheese. Top with crumbled blue cheese.
• 
  
• bake the pizza 12-14 minutes, or until the cheese is melted, the crust is beginning to brown and the whole thing is stable. Slide the pizza off the pan and cook on the middle rack 3-4 minutes more, or until the crust has some crunch to it. to remove from oven, carefully slide back onto pan.