Fig, Prosciutto,Gorgonzola and Caramelised Onion Pizza

When I was young, I used to spend part of my summer holidays at my cousin's property, which was about 20 minutes from the centre of Orange in Borenore. My brother and I would be beside ourselves with excitement in the lead up to the trip which always included two weeks of swimming lessons at a school in Orange. Each morning my brother, cousins and I would show up for swimming class with four different colours of zinc cream on our faces (designs varied from day to day) and the only ones who willingly chose to wear swimming caps, like a bunch of psychedelic little eggs. People probably thought we looked completely nuts, but we thought we looked hilarious and we revelled in it. 
When we weren't putting on a show at swimming lessons, we were dashing around the property; playing in the shearing shed and sliding down the chute where the sheep go after being shorn, trying to feed apples to a couple of toothless old horses of my cousins (I was petrified of them), swimming in the dam and picking figs in the giant orchard.


These figs, I tell you, were the best figs I have ever tasted. Sweet, juicy, grassy and plentiful. We would pick them right off the tree as we rode our bikes through the orchard and then swing back around five minutes later for more. I will never forget those figs; we still talk about them. 

The figs I have photographed above were not like those of my childhood. I bought 3 punnets of them for $10. There were other figs next to the punnets that were sold separately. They looked amazing (and similar to the ones in my flashback) but were far more expensive. It was the week before pay day (and I had just splurged on some sensational Gorgonzola) and I was on a shoestring, so I went for quantity over quality.
I made a mistake. 
Out of three punnets, only six were somewhat OK to eat and the rest were pretty much fig slime as soon as I looked at them. So what to do with six figs that are on the turn? 
What I wanted to make were sweet little individual tarts, but what actually ended up being made was a big ol' tasty pizza. Along with the figs, I caramelised some onions with a little rosemary, added some creamy Gorgonzola and strips of prosciutto. The dough is a snap to make (and is great for kneading out fig-related buyers remorse) and only requires a little bit of waiting for the dough to rise.

15 minutes in the oven and you wouldn't have know that those figs were about to self-destruct, all the flavours melded together in a perfect combination of sweet and savoury. The next time I happen upon some crappy yet still edible figs, I am not going to lament about those perfect figs from my childhood. I am going to dig up a more recent memory and make this pizza.

Fig, Prosciutto, Gorgonzola and Caramelised Onion Pizza
I used this recipe from http://www.taste.com.au for my pizza base, and because I did not adapt it in any way, I have decided to leave it out in the recipe below. Use whatever basic dough recipe you are happy with, but this one works for me every time.


For the topping
Small handful of uncooked polenta
4 or 5 figs, sliced 
6 thin strips of prosciutto
Approx 200g Gorgonzola - or blue cheese you like
2 large onions, halved and then finely sliced
2 tbs butter
1 tsp olive oil
Approx 2 tbs of fresh, chopped rosemary
Approx 1 tbs honey
Approx 1 tbs balsamic vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Preheat your oven to 220C and prepare your pizza tray (I used a rectangular baking tray) by scattering the polenta over the tray and lightly tapping the bottom to ensure that it is evenly dispersed across the tray.
2. Prepare your pizza dough according to this recipe or one of your choice.
3. While the dough is rising, add the butter and oil to a heavy based pan over a low to medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add the rosemary and onion and cook down for about 10-20 minutes, stirring occasionally and scraping the pan down to prevent the onion from catching and burning. Once done, transfer the onions to a bowl lined with paper towel. Set aside.
4. Assemble the figs, Gorgonzola, prosciutto, honey and balsamic vinegar.
5. Once your dough has risen, knead according to the recipe and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll your dough into your desired shape and place it carefully on your tray, gather the edges to form the crust.
6. Top the dough with the onion, spreading it out evenly over the base.
7. Arrange the figs, Gorgonzola and prosciutto over the onions and drizzle with the honey and balsamic. Season to taste.
8. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until the crusts have turned light brown and crispy.
9. Carefully take out of the oven and transfer the pizza to a board to slice up and eat.