I Love Fig Season.

Okay, I take back most of the nasty things I've said about summer, because figs have arrived at my local farmer's market this past weekend. I did a happy little boogie and dragged my poor mother over to the booth so I could examine them closely, and I ended up leaving with a basket of black and green figs in hand  and considerably happier than I'd been walking in.

(And that's already pretty happy, since I love our local Saturday morning farmer's market.)

Of course, the poor figs have been languishing in my mini-fridge since then while I indecisively thumbed through my file of fig recipes. Due to problems with the big fridge, the college mini-fridge has once again become my main refrigerator-- Which means I don't have crème fraîche, and I lost the Salem blue cheese that I ordinarily love to broil figs with in the toaster oven, and so on, and so on...

And then, thanks to my recent obsession with Serious Eats, I found just what I was looking for on the site's new source for food porn feature, Photograzing.

Oh, yes. That's JUST what I needed for inspiration.

.. These herbed frommage blanc fritters are definitely next on the list to make, once I have a fridge with enough room for all my beloved types of cheese.

Fig & Prosciutto Pizza

1 12-14" pizza stone or tin
cornmeal for scattering

1 TJ's garlic and herb fresh pizza dough

White sauce:

1/4 cup olive oil, divided
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2-3 tbsp fresh shredded Parmesan
1 tsp balsamic vinegar, preferably white

Toppings:

1 pint black figs, de-stemmed and sliced thin
2-3 oz. prosciutto
4 handfuls quattro formaggio cheese mix
1 handful fresh shredded Parmesan

Preheat oven to 500 deg F with your pizza stone / metal pizza tin inside. Let the dough rest and rise for about 20 minutes while the oven's getting warm.

While things are heating, make the sauce: Put the four cloves garlic and one tbsp of the oil into a small blender, mortar and pestle, or other hand-chopper and go to town 'til it forms a small, thick amount of paste. Drizzle in more oil and add in your desired amount of Parmesan: Repeat. Drizzle in the last tablespoon and the balsamic vinegar and stir until combined -- This will make enough to thinly paint your pizza dough. Scale up as you feel necessary, but the cheese will more than make up for any perceived dryness.

Carefully remove the pan / stone from the hot oven with heat-protectors of choice: Scatter lightly with cornmeal to keep the dough from sticking too much. Stretch the dough out roughly 12" with your fingertips and do your best to center it on the hot round: It WILL stick the moment you put it down, with the dough starting to cook. This is good, it'll prevent the dough from slipping away while you put the toppings on. Roll or pat the dough out further, taking care not to burn yourself.

Paint with the white sauce, and sprinkle with about a handful of the quattro formaggio. Lie down strips of prosciutto, cut to your desired size. (I went for long, thin strips, draped around in a spiral.) Sprinkle with another handful and a half of cheese. Top evenly with the thin-sliced figs, and sprinkle evenly with the desired amount of the remaining quattro formaggio and Parmesan.

Pop it in the oven and reduce to 450 F. Check it after ten minutes, and every 2-3 minutes thereafter: My thin-crust pie was perfect after 15 minutes. Enjoy!

I loved how the sweet of the figs paired with the salty of the prosciutto, and the savory of the cheese and garlic 'sauce.' I have to remember to make this one again the next time I get my hands on a pint of figs -- though how can you go wrong with figs + thin slices of cured ham + cheese?

And in case you don't want or happen to have access to pre-made quattro formaggio, here's the proportions:

1 cup (4 oz) shaved provolone cheese
1 cup (4 oz)  mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup (2 oz) shaved Asiago cheese
1/4 cup (1 oz) freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese