One of my fondest childhood memories is of my paternal grandfather’s fabulous garden, filled with luscious purple grapes, red ripe tomatoes and of course, figs.
Everything my grandfather touched in his garden turned to gold. He had a green thumb like no other, and he cultivated the most amazing fruits and vegetables that belied his garden’s very modest size. Everything was delicious, but those figs were like sampling a slice of heaven to me, and until this day I look forward to early Fall when figs are in season.
A while ago we went to a fabulous pizza place where I had the most delicious pizza I’ve ever had. Granted, I was so hungry moose poop would have tasted good, but it was truly amazing. Thin, crispy crust with a fig and prosciutto topping to die for. But since the place is not exactly around the corner, and I had some figs on hand, I figured I’d do my best to duplicate it.
But…making pizza has always been challenging for me. Years ago I purchased a pizza stone and was mildly successful with it, but it cracked and I never replaced it because frankly, if I wanted pizza it was just a phone call away.
But now we live in the land where the buffalo roam (or at least bears) and even if we could get pizza delivered, it would look more like a frisbie than a pizza by the time it arrived.
So I tried my hand once again at making it on my own, but this time I was determined to grill it since I’m weird enough to think it’s not fun to have my oven at 500 degrees when it’s 90 outside.
The first two times was, frankly, meh. It tasted good, but the dough was a little too thick for my liking.
The third time, as they say, was the charm.
Now, this isn’t really a recipe on how to make pizza. It’s really more about technique because let’s face it, almost anything and everything goes on a pizza. It’s about what YOU like, not me, but if we like the same things, go ahead and copy this recipe exactly. Just be prepared to be shocked and awed.
Grilled Fig Pizza
Ingredients
- 1 Prepared Pizza Dough divided in half. Freeze the other half for another time.
- Cheese of your choice. I used smoked mozzarella and rosemary goat cheese but that's only because that's what I had on hand.
- 1 Grilled Red Pepper thinly sliced
- 1/2 Ripe Pear thinly sliced
- Thin slices of ham or prosciutto approximately 4
- 2-4 Ripe Figs
- 1 Jar Fig jam
- 1/2 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
Instructions
- Start by reducing your vinegar until it's fairly thick (about 5 minutes), then add the fig jam and stir well. Let cool.
- Place the pizza dough on your work surface. Lightly flour it and let it rest for at least 5 minutes.
- Using your fingers, press the dough outward, working your way around. Alternately, pick it up and stretch it, using the knuckle portion of your hands and working your way around the dough. When you're done, it should be a small circle of about 8" or so. Don't worry if you don't have a perfect circle. As you can see, I didn't either, but trust me, it doesn't effect the taste ;).
- Place it back on your work surface again, let it rest for at least 5 minutes and then repeat the previous step. Your dough should now be about 10" or so.
- Let it rest again and repeat. Now you should have a nice piece of dough that's fairly thin.
- Preheat your grill to the highest setting. It should be really, really HOT. While it's preheating, prepare your ingredients, i.e., slice your pear, cheese, pepper, etc.
- Carefully lubricate your grill well with olive oil. Using a flat cookie sheet (or large pizza spatula if you're lucky enough to have one) place the dough on the grill without any ingredients on it. This is key!
- After about 3 minutes, you should start to see grill marks on the side touching the grill. I like my pizza to have a slight char on it, so I usually let it cook for close to 5 minutes. But be careful, it can go from charred to burned really quick!
- Using your cookie sheet, remove dough from grill. Turn it over so the cooked side faces you and place your ingredients on top however you like. I started with the ham, then cheese, pears, peppers, figs and balsamic reduction.
- Place dough back onto grill using the cookie sheet, lower the heat slightly, cover and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Sharing At
Deb @ Frugal Little Bungalow says
what is weird is that my only experience in life thus far with figs has been with fig newton cookies !
Doreen says
No way! And you’re Italian I believe?? We’re gonna have to fix that Deb!
carrie@northwoods scrapbook says
This sounds so good! I’ve never tried grilling a pizza though – intriguing. 😉
One of my favorite little “funky” restaurants does an amazing appetizer with figs and honey and cheese that you can put on crostini – like a spread. Oh my word – like a little bit of heaven!
Thanks for sharing. Have a great rest of the week Sweetie! xoxo
Magali@TheLittleWhiteHouse says
I lvoe figs but I never thought of adding them on pizza. I think I need to try!
Cecilia says
It looks delicious. So is it a sweet pizza? Our neighbor at the farm has an outdoor pizza oven…goodness, it turns out yummy pizza. Glad to know it can be done on a grill!
Doreen says
Hi Cecilia,
I don’t know that I would call it sweet, although the figs have an element of sweetness to them. It’s not exactly savory either. Maybe somewhere in between. 🙂
Sue says
The fig newton comment by Deb above is funny. I used to make homemade pizza a lot years ago and lost my touch with it since it has been so long. I should try my hand at it again. When I cook store bought pizza I often end it with switching to broil to get the cheese browned just right-ahhhh.
Amy @ Ms. Toody Goo Shoes says
O.M.G, Doreen, if this isn’t pizza heaven, I don’t know what is! I have made a fig/proscuitto/goat cheese pizza before, but not on the grill, and not with pears, balsamic and red peppers. I can’t wait to try this! Pinning!
tammy j says
this post took me right back to the past posts i read about ‘the brothers!’
i love stories about your nonno.
and that pizza! and the way you did it! WOWZER! (that’s an old italian word. you may recognize it.)
and…
moose poop?
really?
i’ve never been that hungry thankfully.
love you and this blog!
XOXO♥
Doreen says
Love you too my little peanut! xxx
Benita says
LMAO…it is so hard to type when one is laughing so much at the “moose poop” comment! I’ve been that hungry before! Apparently, you and I shared the same grandfather because mine was the same way…golden touch in the garden and everything that came from their kitchen came from their garden! I used to eat figs while my grandmother was making her fig cookies, but I’ve never had them in anything else but plain or the cookies. Interesting recipe…saving it to give it a whirl!!
Jane says
This looks divine, Doreen! I have just discovered how good figs are (lucky you for having that fig growing grandpa!). I’ve been coveting fig recipes since. Thank you—sounds and looks outstanding.
Funny-I posted about pizza as well today. You might like the crust recipe I discovered.
Have a great week!
Jane x
Feral Turtle says
Oh my…now I will have to search for fig jam. I have never even heard of a fig pizza. And PEARS….I love pears. I am pinning this one Doreen. In fact I think I might head to town and look for some fig jam and have this for supper tonight. Thanks for sharing this interesting combo!
Poppy says
Have never really gotten into all the good things about figs, and being Greek, God knows I should have! Just like my antipathy to yogurt – you’d think living in Greece for 25 years, I would have been smart enough to start eating this wonder food, especially since the Greeks make the best type! Duh! In the end, it took a diagnosis of osteoporosis to change my mind and now I actually like it, even though the damage has been done, and non reversible, but I can at least try and build on the muscle mass I have left!
Your green thumbed grandpa instilled in you a love and taste of all the great fruits and veggies that our gardens can grow for us, and you are smart enough to have incorporated them in your daily diet, your grilled fig pizza being yet another delicious example of this! Thanks for the technique and all the tips!
xoxo
Poppy
Cathy, 1929 Charmer Cottage says
Hmmmm, that looks and sound so good. I have to agreed with Deb, I’ve remember Fig Newton’s and not really drawn to figs? I’m not Italian so maybe thats my excuse? I love my pizza’s grilled. You are lucky for a fig Grandpa! Moose poop would never taste good!
Cindy says
Man Doreen, this looks so good. I’d enjoy this for sure. John not so much. I will be thinking of this pizza for some time.
Cindy
Shirley@Housepitality Designs says
I have never had fig pizza before, but this one looks so awesome that I must try it!….I love figs!
Vickie says
I’m impressed! I can just see myself dropping the pizza dough onto the coals! I’ve never had fresh figs before, but I bet they’re delish.
Julie says
Hi and Wow Doreen your fig pizza looks AMAZING! I bet it tasted great too.
Thanks for sharing your wonderful pizza recipe.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Julie xo
Jemma says
Hi Pretty Lady!
This is it, the recipe that caught my eye while I was away in Sacramento- I knew I saw a Fig recipe from you in my inbox:)
smiles… I love figs and I know that if you share a recipe, it’s going to be good!
We have pizza a couple of times a month-pinning this and making it very soon.
xo
Jemma
Doreen says
I just made a similar version last night, though I didn’t have fresh figs. I used fig jam only. It was still delicious though. The key to this recipe is the dough prep. Make sure you get it as thin as possible, which is easy if you give yourself time to let it rest between working it.
xxx