Fig Redux: Grilled Pizza

This pizza sprung from my current love affair with figs and a hankering for grilled pizza. The restaurant where I worked in college — aptly named the Brick-Oven Cafe — served the most delicious wood-fired pizzas, baked, as you might expect, in a huge brick wood-burning oven. The texture of the crust was nice: a balanced blend of crisp and chewy, but the rich, smoky flavor was of the sort you can only get when flames are involved. Currently without a wood-burning oven of my own, I’d been thinking that grilling a pizza might impart a similar texture and flavor.
The trick, I learned from this experiment, is to roll the dough as thinly as possible. What happens in the cooking process is that the fiery heat licks the bottom of the crust, imparting its smoky flavor within a matter of minutes. But if the dough is too thick, it won’t cook all the way through, leaving you with a gummy texture in the center. We ended up pulling the pizza off of the direct grill, reducing the flame, and cooking it the rest of the way through on a foil-lined cookie sheet. It worked, but I would have liked it more if the crust had been thinner and more evenly crisp.
The toppings, inspired by recent fig pizzas at A Mingling of Tastes and at Milk and Honey, were figs, grilled in a drizzle of basalmic vinegar and cane syrup; grilled pieces of prosciutto; and large dollops of goat cheese, which melted nicely into the figs. David, not as big a fan of figs as I am, was a bit skeptical about this sweet/salty combo, but he admitted after several slices that he was pleasantly suprised. Given my penchant for contrasting flavors, fresh figs, and pizza, it should come as no surprise that I loved every bite.
The labor of this meal is in the prep work; once you get everything ready, it takes almost no time to cook on the grill. The grilling times I’ve included are guesses: my best advice is to stand at the grill the whole time and watch carefully. The amounts are also estimates, as it will depend on how much you want to load down your pizza, how big your crusts are, and how many figs you can get your hands on. As you can tell, this is no exact science.
Grilled Fig Pizza
Half recipe of Basic Focaccia/Pizza Dough or other dough of your choice
Figs (I used about a pint)
Basalmic vinegar
Cane syrup (honey would work too)
Kosher salt
Prosciutto, thinly sliced
Goat cheese (I used about 4 ounces)
Olive oil
Cooking spray
Heat the grill to a medium-high flame (we have charcoal, so I imagine a gas grill would be easier to keep consistently hot).
While the fire is heating up, get everything ready: Slice the figs in half, and spread them in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet (preferably with a lip) that will fit on your grill rack. Drizzle with a tiny bit of vinegar and syrup, and sprinkle with salt. Place the prosciutto slices on a doubled piece of foil that’s been sprayed with cooking spray. Divide the the dough into two balls, and roll each one out as thinly as you can manage with a rolling pin and place on wax paper sprayed with cooking spray. Rub a little olive oil onto both sides of each pizza crust.
Take everything outside: prepared figs, prosciutto, dough, and the goat cheese. (If you live in the hottest, stickiest climate you can imagine like I do, spray yourself copiously with bug spray first and be prepared to sweat.) You’ll also need a big metal spatula (or two regular-sized ones) to flip the pizza. Grill the prosciutto first on the foil, just until it crisps up; this won’t take but a minute. Next, place your baking sheet of figs on the grill, and cook until the juices are bubbly and the figs are very soft; maybe 5 minutes? Now you’re ready for the pizza. Place the oiled dough directly on the grill rack, and let it cook (we covered the grill because the wind was fanning the flame too much) until it’s brown and crispy on the bottom; it took ours about 3 minutes. Flip, and immediately cover with figs, prosciutto, and goat cheese, being careful not to let any of the fig juices drip into the fire (like I did). Cook for another few minutes until the bottom is crispy and brown. Remove from the grill and drizzle with olive oil; repeat the process with the next pizza. Eat immediately! 
August 26th, 2006 at 11:52 am
Oh, this is what we are having tomorrow night. I too, love figs and your pizza looks delicious. I made them into a quessadilla last week. I used blue cheese, a wee bit of chopped fresh rosemary, a handful of fresh spinach, and fresh figs, sliced. Now, I can’t wait to try them with goat cheese and prosciutto!
Great photo!
August 26th, 2006 at 7:28 pm
If only I had a grill!
August 26th, 2006 at 10:24 pm
Fantastic! I LOVE goat cheese (not a fan of blue cheese) and I’m sure grilled pizza is divine…I never see fresh figs in my local stores, though. They sell them in one store but they aren’t fresh…and aren’t exactly dried…hmm. Anyway, I digress..your pizza looks awesome.
August 27th, 2006 at 12:15 am
This sounds SO great - I love all the ingredients! I’ve never grilled my pizza before but have been wanting to for a while. Thanks for the tips!
August 27th, 2006 at 6:10 am
Yummy and clever! Makes me want to buy some figs!
August 31st, 2006 at 8:06 pm
What a gorgeous pizza! It makes me feel good that mine inspired you a bit, but this is certainly a delicious creation all your own! I’m working on my list of 5 things to eat before you die, and the first thing I had to include was figs.
October 17th, 2006 at 4:25 pm
This Grilled Fig Pizza was so wonderful! I’m going through a lavender phase so of course through in a handful while making the dough - what an incredible dough recipe! The combination of tastes - the figs grilled in the balsamic vinegar, just fabulous. This could become a new West Coast favorite, thanks for the recipe.
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January 4th, 2012 at 1:28 pm
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