Fresh fig and fennel pizza – Pizza Clack

Bob Degon‘s got me thinking about foods that go well together. He’s come up with a great idea for a new feature — Perfect Pairs — and he’s already made me salivate with his first entry, the spectacular combination of pomegranate and chocolate. I’ve got a few pairings I’ll be writing about soon enough, but let’s just say for now that I’ve had figs on the brain.

I love figs fresh, and I love them dried. I adore them as snacks, or as an ingredient in a more complex dish. They taste great with prosciutto, but let’s face it — you’re all going to revolt on me if I post another pizza recipe using prosciutto. So taking a break from the delightful cured ham, I’m willing to sing the praises of fresh fig and fennel pizza today (although no one is stopping you from adding prosciutto to this because it would be really, really delicious. Now pretend I didn’t write that).

This recipe is based on one from Food Blogga, but a few changes will give it some added pizazz that the original recipe was lacking (not that there’s anything wrong with the original recipe… I just like changes!).

Fresh Fig and Fennel Pizza

Ingredients:

your pizza dough of choice to make 2 12-inch pizzas; do try the sprouted spelt dough you can make in your bread machine
2 leeks, thinly sliced
1 bulb fennel, thinly sliced
10-12 fresh figs (or a package of dried, reconstituted in warm water), thickly sliced
1 log chevre goat cheese
four cheese blend (Trader Joe’s Quattro Formaggio’s my choice)
fresh rosemary, 2-3 tablespoons chopped
fresh thyme, 2-3 tablespoons chopped
fresh basil, 2-3 tablespoons chopped
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
1 package prosciutto (optional but yummy)
aged balsamic vinegar for drizzling

Stretch your dough onto 2 12-inch pizza pans lightly sprayed with olive oil. Meanwhile, caramelize the leeks and fennel by cooking them in olive oil slowly over medium-low heat until golden.

Sprinkle about 1/3 cup of the four cheese blend on each pizza. If you’re using the prosciutto, tear that into pieces and layer that on now. Then, layer the caramelized leeks and fennel, the sliced figs and the fresh herbs. Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper.

Now, plop on the goat cheese evenly and sprinkle with more of the four cheese blend, to taste.

Bake at 450 degrees for 16-18 minutes. Before serving, sprinkle on the pine nuts and drizzle with the syrupy goodness of the aged balsamic vinegar.

You know that I’d serve this with my gourmet mesclun salad, Molly would opt for her lazy, lazy green salad. Either way, you’ll have an amazing meal. Serve it to guests; you’ll see.