This pizza is topped with fresh peaches, duck prosciutto, caramelized onions, creamy blue cheese, and shredded mozzarella for a combination that’s a little sweet, a little tangy and feels totally like summer.
- Prep Time:
4 HRS* - Cook Time:
1 HR - Total Time:
5 HRS*
*includes rising time for the homemade pizza dough
It’s summer and peaches are finally in season. Although, my first choice in peaches will always be from Morton’s Orchards in Palisade, Colorado, the peaches we have been getting at our local farmers market this summer have been really good.
It means the return of our favorite peach cobbler and fresh peach ice-cream. And now it means this peach and duck prosciutto pizza which I made several years ago and then promptly forgot about. Fortunately, my daughter remembered just how good it was and (gently) urged me to share the recipe.
Tips for making pizza at home
Making homemade pizza is definitely a project but it’s one of the best ways to enjoy flavor combinations you wouldn’t get to try otherwise. Some planning and prep work makes it all more manageable.
Prepare as much as you can in advance. You can grate the cheese, make the dough, and caramelize the onions earlier in the day or even the day before you are planning to make the pizzas. Refrigerate them until you are ready to assemble the pizzas.
Take the dough out of the refrigerator about 2 hours before baking. Begin heating the oven and pizza stone about 1 hour before.
When it’s time to make the pizzas, clear a work area where you can roll out the pizza dough and arrange all the toppings within easy reach. Also, have your tools ready (parchment paper, tongs, pizza peel, oven mitts, and pizza cutter).
Finally, have a cutting board handy so you can transfer the hot pizza from the oven, slice it, and serve it right away.
Tips for transferring the pizza to the oven
Sliding an unbaked pizza laden with toppings off a pizza peel and onto a pizza stone used to give me a lot of anxiety. It seemed like no matter how much semolina flour I sprinkled on the peel, the dough would stick to the peel and I would struggle trying to shake the pizza off while standing in front of a very hot oven.
So now I roll out the dough on a piece of parchment paper (not wax paper) that is just a little larger than my intended pizza size, add the toppings, and then slide the pizza peel under the parchment paper to transfer to the oven. The parchment paper with the pizza on top of it slides off the peel very easily. I then bake the pizza for about 5 minutes which is just long enough for the crust to set. Then I remove the parchment paper by slipping a large oven safe spatula between the pizza crust and the parchment paper with one hand while pulling out the parchment paper using a pair of tongs with my other hand. For the remaining bake time, the pizza is baked directly on the pizza stone allowing the crust time to brown and crisp up.
For safety, I do NOT recommend this method if you are using a pizza oven especially one with open flames.
Peach and Duck Prosciutto Pizza
- Prep Time: 4 hours
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 5 hours (includes dough rising time)
- Yield: 3 (10-inch) pizzas
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This pizza is topped with fresh peaches, duck prosciutto, caramelized onions, creamy blue cheese, and shredded mozzarella for a combination that’s a little sweet, a little tangy and feels like summer.
Ingredients
For the pizza dough
- 1 3/4 cups warm water
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 1/2 tablespoons raw sugar
- 4 1/4 – 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
For the caramelized onions
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 medium onions, thinly sliced (about 2 generous cups)
- 4 sprigs thyme, leaves only
- 2 tablespoons raw sugar
- Pinch of kosher salt
- 1/4 cup white wine
For the additional pizza toppings
- 1/2 pound low-moisture mozzarella cheese, grated
- 3–4 ounces blue cheese (see Note 1)
- 2 ounces duck prosciutto
- 2–3 fresh, ripe peaches, thinly sliced
Instructions
For the pizza dough
- Proof yeast. In a small bowl, stir together water, yeast, and sugar until the yeast is dissolved. Let mixture stand at room temperature until foamy, about 3-5 minutes.
- Mix dough. In a large bowl whisk together 4 1/4 cups flour and salt. Stir in olive oil and yeast mixture with a spatula or wooden spoon (see Note 2). Continue stirring until the dough starts to come together.
- Knead dough. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes by hand until smooth. Add more flour if the dough gets too sticky but try to add the least amount of flour as possible.
- Rise. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions. Place each in a covered and lightly oiled quart-sized deli container, zipper freezer bag or bowl. Place dough containers in the refrigerator and let rise for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.
For the caramelized onions
- Sweat onions. Heat olive oil in a medium sauté pan. Add onions and thyme leaves. Cook for 1-2 minutes until onions soften slightly.
- Season. Add sugar and salt to the onions and stir until dissolved.
- Caramelize onions. Cook the onions over medium-low heat until all the liquid is evaporated and the onions begin to brown and caramelize, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Continue cooking until the onions are a deep brown, scraping up any fond that forms on the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon or spatula. It can take up to 45 minutes until the onions are fully caramelized.
- Deglaze. Add wine to the pan. Allow the wine to cook off, using a spatula to scrape up any browned bits at bottom of the pan and stir into the onions.
To make the pizzas
- Prep dough. At least 2 hours before using the dough, remove it from the refrigerator and let it rest at room temperature.
- Prep oven. Place a pizza stone on a rack in lower third of oven. Heat oven to 500 degrees F for about an hour.
- Stretch dough. Working with one dough ball at a time place dough on a large piece of parchment paper. Working from center, pat and flatten dough with fingertips until it is about 7 inches in diameter. Let rest for 2-3 minutes. Gently stretch dough from edges to about 8 inches in diameter. Let rest for 2-3 minutes. Continue patting and stretching the dough until it is 9-11 inches in diameter.
- Add toppings. Top dough with 1/3 of the mozzarella, 1/3 of the blue cheese, 1/3 of the caramelized onions, 1/3 of the prosciutto, and 1/3 of the peach slices.
- Adjust oven temp. Reduce oven temperature to 475 degrees F.
- Bake. Transfer pizza (on paper) to stone using a large cookie sheet or pizza peel; bake for 5 minutes then carefully pull out the parchment and finish baking the pizza directly on the stone (see Note 3) until the crust is golden brown, 6 to 10 minutes. Remove pizza from the oven with a cookie sheet or pizza peel. Repeat with remaining dough and toppings.
Notes
- I like Point Reyes Original Blue Cheese (either the wedge or the crumbles).
- Make sure the yeast mixture is slightly foamy which indicates that your yeast is active. If not, re-make the yeast mixture ensuring that the yeast isn’t expired and the water is the correct temperature.
- To remove the parchment paper, I slip a large oven safe spatula between the pizza crust and the parchment paper with one hand and then pull out the parchment paper using a pair of tongs with my other hand.
- Recipe adapted from Chef Dawn Burrell.
Originally published .
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