For the first couple of years of marriage, my husband and I lived in a total bachelor pad in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago. He bought an exposed brick loft before we were married and it was loaded with sleek granite, primary colors and black leather furniture. One of our favorite weeknight dinners was a homemade pizza paired with a bottle of wine. We enjoyed it on our roof deck, which had a beautiful view of the city.
We lived in the loft for a couple of years until we realized that we could not raise a family there. So, we sold the bachelor pad and moved to the West Loop and rented a gorgeous place with an even better view of the city. A few days after unpacking, we decided to continue our tradition of pizza and wine for a simple at-home dinner. After gathering all of our ingredients, we could not find the oven! It turned out that there was no oven. What!? Apparently, all of the previous renters did not cook and found no use for one so the owner never installed one!
Needless to say, we were disappointed and asked the landlord to install one right away. He did, and we were able to get our pizza nights back on the calendar again.
This is the type of pizza that — assuming you have an oven — is super easy to make. We use a pre-made Pillsbury thin crust dough for our pizza recipes, but you can use store bought or homemade dough. And, toppings are very versatile. Remove or add veggies or meats as you please.
Enjoy!
- 4 Figs, thinly sliced
- Pizza dough (we used thin crust Pillsbury dough)
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- ½ tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Gorgonzola cheese (crumbled)
- Figs
- Prosciutto
- ½ cup shallot
- ¾ cup arugula
- Balsamic glaze (for drizzle)
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- In a small bowl, add ¼ tablespoon olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt. Toss figs in mixture.
- In a frying pan, gently cook the onion in a little olive oil on medium, 3-5 minutes.
- Brush rolled out pizza dough with remaining olive oil. Sprinkle Gorgonzola crumbs on top. Place the pizza in the oven until dough turns golden (time depends on type of dough).
- After the dough is golden, remove from the oven and top with strips of prosciutto. Sprinkle with cooked onions.
- Place back in oven and bake for 2 minutes to warm toppings.
- Remove the pizza from the oven and dress with arugula and drizzle with balsamic glaze. Add additional crumbled cheese if desired.