Fig, Prosciutto, & Caramelized Onion Pizza

For me, a life without (good) pizza is not worth living, and that’s especially true in the summertime when we typically devote at least one night of the weekend to grilling pizzas out by the pool, preferably with a glass of rosé in hand and a few friends over to join in the cooking fun. Today’s pizza combination was on the menu at the Italian-themed cooking party we threw at my house with La Crema a couple weeks ago. Can’t wait to share all the details from the evening with you guys tomorrow, and keep scrolling for the recipe and tips for this Fig, Prosciutto, & Caramelized Onion Pizza that is my current dinnertime addiction.

photography by ashleigh amoroso

You guys know that I’m all about making cooking as simple as possible, but making your pizza dough from scratch is one time when it really pays to not take shortcuts. I know, I know, making homemade dough sounds intimidating, but I swear that once you do it, you’ll never go back. Read the recipe card below for my foolproof dough recipe that you can make ahead and keep in the fridge or freezer until ready to use.

You want to roll out your dough really thin, but not so thin that it becomes like a cracker. We’re going for that crispy-on-the-outside, chewy-on-the-inside crust, and a major key to achieving it is getting your grill screaming hot before the dough goes down.

The thing about pizzas is they’re much more fun to make and eat with a group. Some of my very favorite dinner party memories revolve around inviting a bunch of friends to join us around the grill, everyone weighing in on their favorite topping combinations.

I give each person a specific task to perform: a couple of guests might be brushing the raw dough with olive oil while others are throwing toppings onto the pizza mid-grill, and someone else is slicing into a perfectly-charred pie that’s ready to eat! When we all gather around the table, everyone gets to enjoy the fruits of their labor, savoring the satisfaction of preparing a meal together.

I know that some of y’all are probably wondering if you can achieve a similar effect even if you don’t have a grill. And the answer is yes. The key is to use a pizza stone: allowing it to get extremely hot before sliding the pizza on simulates the effect of placing it on the screaming hot grill. Here’s how to do it:

1. Place an oven rack in the upper third of the oven, and slide your pizza stone on top. Turn oven on to its hottest setting, at least 500 degrees, and let the pizza stone heat up for an entire hour (yes, you heard me: don’t skip this step!)
2. After rolling out dough, increase the oven’s heat to broil. Sprinkle a pizza peel with flour to prevent the dough from sticking, then place the pizza dough onto the peel.
3. Add all your toppings, remembering to use a light hand.
4. Carefully slide the pizza from the peel onto the pizza stone, shaking back and forth a bit to help the pizza slide on. Broil the pizza until the bottom of the crust is very crisp, about 5 minutes (rotate halfway through.)
5. Gently slide the pizza back onto the peel, then transfer to your cutting board to slice and serve.

One of the most fun parts about making pizzas with friends is that everyone can get creative and invent the topping combinations of your choice. We prepped a bunch of different veggies and herbs that everyone could experiment with, but this fig, prosciutto & caramelized onion version was definitely the night’s crowd favorite. Can’t wait to hear if you guys give it a try!