Blue Cheese Pizza with Figs and Pears Recipe

Here is a recipe for the pizza I wrote about on friday. Actually, it's a recipe for the toppings. They will work on top of your favorite pizza dough baked your favorite way. I usually bake mine on a pizza stone in the bottom of the oven for 8-12 minutes at 500F to get it nice and crispy. If you haven't made pizza before, check out Stephen's blog for basic technique.

Sticky Figs
15 large dried figs
1/8 Moroccan Lemon, sliced paper thin (or zest of 1 lemon plus a generous pinch of salt)
5 rosemary sprigs
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup port or (1/4 cup red wine plus a little extra honey)

1. Trim and half figs.
2. In a medium sauce pan, combine figs, rosemary, honey, vinegar, and port. Cook over medium heat until the liquid turns syrupy and coats the figs, 10-15 minutes.

You'll probably end up with more figs than you need for the pizza, but you can use the leftovers with roast meats or on a cheese plate.

Caramelized Onions
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, sliced
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
Salt

1. Set a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the oil, onions, and generous pinch of salt. Cook stirring occasionally until onions are tender and golden brown, 8-10 minutes.
2. Add balsamic vinegar, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until onions are deep brown, 5-6 minutes longer.

For 14" pizza
1 pizza dough (store bought is fine)
Flour for rolling out the dough
Lots of corn meal
some pinenuts
some shreaded mozzarella (about 1 cup)
some crumbled blue cheese (about 1 cup)
1 bosc pear, cored and sliced (optional)
some dried cranberries (optional)

1. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to 1/4 inch thick.
2. If baking directly on the stone*: Place pizza on a peel very heavily sprinkled with corn meal or semolina. If you don't have a peel, an unside-down cookie sheet covered with parchment paper will do the trick (don't forget the corn meal). Alternatively, place pizza on a cookie sheet.
3. Spread a layer of onions, then figs. Pine nuts make a great addition. Sliced pears and/or dried cranberries are good too, and can even be used in place of figs. Top with shredded mozzarella and crumbled blue cheese. Sorry, I don't have exact measurements. But you are not really going to measure your pizza toppings, are you?
4. Position the peel with the pizza over a pizza stone and yank the peel from under it. Or place the cookie sheet with pizza on the stone (or directly in the oven if you don't have the stone). Bake until the cheese melts and the crust browns, 8-12 minutes at 500F.

*Warning: Transfering pizza with toppings onto the stone is a bit tricky and can result in toppings falling off and burning. To avoid having dinner to the sound track of your fire alarms, bake pizza on the cookie sheet unless you are an experienced pizza baker.