Autumn Apple Pizza with Whole Wheat Crust-- SWOON!

I wanted to wait until after the Thanksgiving Carnage before sharing this recipe for one of the best pizzas I have ever eaten.  This is a very high compliment, because (gasp) I'm really not a huge fan of pizza-- unless you're talking Margherita Pizza.  Then, you have my full attention.  I much prefer a brush of olive oil (or basil pesto) on my pizza crust over red pizza sauce.  

I had just bought some locally grown, organic Fuji apples.  When I spotted this recipe on "How Sweet It Is" food blog, I realized I had all of the ingredients that I needed to make this pizza recipe.  My husband loves bacon. I love caramelized onion and we love  Gouda cheese. That means, I usually keep some on hand.  We have a sage plant in our herb garden.  It took a nano-second for me set my sights on making this for dinner.

Jessica also shared her recipe for a whole wheat pizza dough. I confess, that I was a bit skeptical, at first.  I have a pizza dough recipe that I really like, but I wanted to try the whole wheat route.  To those of you who are scared of working with yeast-- relax! It's not that hard.  I keep a jar of Fleischmann's Bread Machine yeast in my refrigerator.  I make sure that the yeast isn't expired. 

Just remember that yeast need moisture, food and warmth to grow. In this recipe, you need warm water (no hotter than 105F), honey and you add the yeast. Set it aside for 10-15 minutes. Measure 1 cup of whole wheat and 3/4 cup flour. NOTE: I use King Arthur Unbleached Flour, of course.

 Unless you shop at King Arthur Flour's website as much as I do, you probably don't have their Pizza Dough Flavor.  I love it!  Don't sweat it, if you don't. It's just an extra "perk" to the recipe. I added that to my pre-measured flour.

TIP: Preheat your oven to WARM for a few minutes, then turn it off.  This will set up an "incubator" for the dough to rise much faster-- like almost twice as fast!

So, 10 minutes later, the yeast is alive!  Dump in the flour.  If you have a stand mixer, with a dough hook, this will be super easy to do.  You could use a bread machine, as well. (Otherwise, you can use elbow grease and do this by hand.)

I simply turned on my dough hook, and let it mix everything together. At first, the dough seemed a little too sticky, so I added 1 Tablespoon more of unbleached flour....then one more. Perfect! This took about 5 minutes to accomplish.

Grease a bowl with olive oil.  Of course, I use a plastic dough bucket, because I collect gadgets. Just roll the dough so it coats with the oil.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set into the lightly warmed oven.  Of course, you can just cover the bowl with a clean cloth, and wait for 1-1/2 hours.

Cut five pieces of bacon into squares. I chose to cook mine in a cast-iron skillet; you can "nuke" them on a paper towel, but I wanted to go for "slightly crisp".

Slice one onion and sprinkle a little kosher salt. Cook with a teensie bit of olive oil, while the bacon is cooking.

Yum.

PIZZA BAKING TIPS:  Ever wonder why you have soggy pizza crust?  I solved the problem by investing in a pizza stone.  I preheat my stone so that when I slide my pizza onto it, the dough immediately begins to bake.  Don't have a pizza stone? You can preheat a baking sheet and get a similar effect.  Parchment paper really helps, too.  

45 minutes later...  the dough has risen beautifully! Whoo-hoo!

On a piece of parchment paper, set on top of the reverse side of a baking sheet?  Now, why would I do that? Aha!  You see, I don't have a pizza peel yet-- you'll understand in a moment. I like to use corn meal instead of flour.  This dough was so easy to work with, that I used my hands to shape it into a circle. I barely had to use a rolling pin!

 Slice an apple fairly thin...

The onions are lightly caramelized (about 15 minutes)...

Brush the pizza dough, lightly, with olive oil.  Sprinkle with nutmeg.  Add a layer of apple, then some Gouda cheese...then the caramelized onion.

...and add the bacon.

Add more cheese, more apples...and garnish with fresh sage.

The oven and pizza stone is preheatedt 375F and I'm really thinking this is going to be a great pizza.

I simply pull out the baking rack, slightly tip the inverted baking sheet with the pizza on the parchment paper (and hold my breath).... and it's on the baking stone! Whew!

25 minutes later, the aroma in my kitchen was making me really hungry.  I carefully grabbed a corner of the parchment paper (with tongs) and pulled it back on to my inverted baking sheet.  There!

The crust is baked beautifully.  The cheese is bubbly.  It's hard to wait a few minutes, before cutting.

VERDICT:   I love Gouda cheese.  My first bite was all about the caramelized onion, the gooey cheese, the saltiness of the bacon with a sweet bite of apple.  Wow!  The pizza crust is fabulous.  You don't realize you're eating whole wheat, because it doesn't have a gritty texture.  All of the flavors work well together.   I wanted to kiss Jessica.  The pizza crust is going to become my own go-to, from now on.  While editing these photos, I craved this pizza all over again. Oh, yes, I'll make this one again.  Very soon. Like this week. For real.

I really love "gourmet pizzas" that are a little outside of the standard pizza box.  Like Tyler Florence's Bacon, Potato, Rosemary and Fontina Pizza. That's another really good one.

You want this pizza.  You want this pizza crust.  So, here's the printable recipe.   Go visit "How Sweet It Is".  Jessica is funny, a great photographer, sometimes naughty with sweets and she loves bacon.  This pizza is her brainchild, and I love her for it.

A printable recipe card is at the end of this post.

 

Fig-Prosciutto Pizza (The Pioneer Woman)

I never imagined that when I started my own food blog, in 2008, that I would collect so many recipe ideas.  In fact, I invested in a DEMY Digital Recipe Reader, so that I could keep track of the hundreds of recipes that I doubt I'll live long enough to make.  My food blog addiction began, when I stumbled across Ree Drummond's Blog.  I liked her humor, her photos, and her recipes are downright tempting.   For 35 years, I owned horses.  My dearly departed and beloved horse, Savannah, went on to win state championships as a stock horse.  I loved riding trails, tagging along cattle drives and flirting with cowboys going to rodeos.  I enjoy how Ree shares about her city girl, turned wife-of-a-real-cowboy life.  I don't read a lot about her home schooling, since I have a grown son.  I can honestly say that the recipes I've made, from Ree's blog,  are some of my family's favorites.  Yes, they're a bit high in fat and calories, but they are not low in flavor.  I just don't eat like that every day!

My step-by-step photos and printable recipe are past these next few paragraphs.  I just want to share some of my personal feelings about some recent comments I've been reading about The Pioneer Woman (along with  Paula Deen, and Ina Garten, Sandra Lee and Rachael Ray).

Why so much hate, people?!  I've watched Ree's new Food Network Show.  I'm not so sure that Ree's written humor translates as well on screen, and I learn more from Anne Burrell-- when it comes to cooking techniques.  But, whoa, Nelly!  There are websites where people are having a field day ripping Ree's new show to pieces!  She's being labeled a phony, a piece of PR marketing and a lot of not-so-nice digs at her "money".   They're attacking her for her fattening food, along with Paula Deen. Much of this translates to me as pure envy, and a mixture of just plain food snobbery.  While I appreciate "gourmet food" as much as any other "foodie", I'm also a fan of simple comfort foods.  I hope that I never become as snobby sounding as some of the comments I read about this particular recipe!  I have certain food aversions that I cannot overcome. But, I would never write anything like "gross", or "ew" if I see an ingredient that my palate just can't accept.  I'm just plain disappointed in the "hate" websites.

It remains to be seen if the Pioneer Woman's new show will be as big a hit as her website. For now, she has a huge base of loyal fans.  As for me, I like her personality, on her blog.  I've never met her, in person, so I can't say that she's phony. Some of her recipes aren't something I'd make, but that doesn't mean there aren't other households who are racing to the store to buy those very ingredients.  The same goes for my own food blog.  There are times when I've posted a recipe, and the comments are less than stellar. Other times, I receive a lot of blog love when I post something else.  We can't please everyone, and I try not to take things too personally. While I'm not a fan of recipes that use a lot of processed foods and/ or mixes,  I'm sure there are plenty of people who prefer to use these shortcuts. Go for it!   But, why the hate?  If PW isn't your cup of tea, it doesn't mean she is worthy of such vicious attacks. Just move on...as I have with some Food Network personalities I just don't care for.  For the record-- I suspect those who are on writing such hateful comments are not food bloggers.  Some people just need to complain about something... End of my complaint rant.

 So, back to this recipe.  I love figs, and I only recently discovered how fun they are to cook and bake with in very recent years.  I've had pretty good success in making my own fig jam.   Figs and cheese... figs and Prosciutto... these make excellent pairings--and they make lovely appetizers.  It was Tyler Florence's recipe for Bacon, Potato, Rosemary & Fontina Cheese with Arugula that opened my eyes to less traditional pizza combos.  Ree's recipe uses Fig Spread (or jam), instead of red pizza sauce.

 After watching her show, I made a note to buy Prosciutto di Parma ...

 ...and fresh mozzarella.  

 

I already had a jar of fig jam that I had purchased, and it was nearing it's expiration date. The ingredients were nice, too-- figs, lemon juice sugar and no high fructose corn syrup.  Works for me!

NOTE: This is not an inexpensive pizza to make.  Total cost = $15.00, approximately.  However, have you ever seen a pizza like this at your local pizzeria?  Probably not!

 
I usually make my own pizza dough, but this time I bought one from Trader Joe's-- I made this last Monday, on a work night.  If I had planned enough ahead, I like making my pizza dough a day or two ahead. When the dough ferments, it takes on extra flavor that I really love.  There are a few tips I've learned about making  non-soggy pizzas...

I've invested in a baking stone.  Mine is large and square, for baking Artisan breads. It's perfect for pizzas, too.  I like to preheat my pizza stone, at 450F.

I haven't purchased a pizza peel yet, so I use the back of a baking sheet-- with lots of corn meal.  There is nothing more disheartening than to make your pizza and then it sticks...and rips... while trying to set it on a baking stone.  If you don't have a baking stone, I've found that preheating a baking sheet works pretty well.

Fig Spread is easier to use.  I had to heat this jam, so it would become more spreadable.

...like that!

I could slap my forehead for all the years that I bought that rubbery ball of mozzarella.  Fresh mozzarella is so worth the extra cost. It's creamier... and so much tastier. I used the entire container.

NOTE:  I forgot to drizzle olive oil, and salt, but I actually didn't find the additional olive oil to be necessary. The salt is essential, though.  I used sea salt.

I said a little prayer, and my pizza slid right off the back of my baking sheet and onto my very hot baking stone.  Corn meal, to the rescue! The pizza crust was baked in about 18 minutes.

I could cut this up into bite-sized pieces, and serve them as tapas. But, let's kick this up a few more notches...

Lay the Prosciutto slices all over the pizza, while hot. By the way, I love wrapping Prosciutto around fresh cantaloupe slices. Sweet, salty... so good!

Very nice!

Right before serving (which was, like, 3 minutes after I finished with adding the Prosciutto and pouring wine), add some fresh and peppery arugula. 

...and Fresh Parmesan shavings is the last "ta-da". Since I used "cheater" pizza dough, dinner was ready in about 1/2 hour! 

Craig and I enjoyed our dinner "Al Fresco", as the chilly Fall nights haven't quite arrived in Salinas. But, it's getting closer.  

VERDICT:  My husband, at first, referred to this as a "girlie" pizza.  He got that idea, from watching a little bit of Ree's show.  Once he took a few bites, he said it was good.  He had thirds seconds, he said this was really good.  I'm glad we added a little extra sea salt, because the Prosciutto didn't quite hold enough of that salty contrast to the sweet of the fig jam.   I liked the fig jam, but I will use my favorite brand, "Dalmatia Fig Spread", in the future. This pizza is quite light, actually.  I would make this again, and cut them into smaller squares-- as a perfect appetizer.  The crunchiness of the arugula works really well.   There were a few slices left over, that my son discovered when he did a midnight refrigerator raid.  The next morning, he commented that the pizza was really good.  He said it threw him for a loop, at first, when he realized the sauce wasn't a traditional tomato-base.  Overall, this is a keeper recipe.

Ree Drummond, congratulations in your success. It's always nice for me to see a food blogger who is successful.  I'd never have the courage to stand before a camera, and demonstrate my recipes.  I don't have that kind of confidence!