Pizza Dough + Pear & Prosciutto Pizza
This pizza dough is crisp and chewy, super easy to throw together, and soft & easy to work with. Add to that a recipe for an extra tasty, sweet & salty Pear & Prosciutto Pizza. Yields 3 medium pizzas
Prep Time
15minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
10-15minutes 1.5-2hours
Prep Time
15minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
10-15minutes 1.5-2hours
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
Pear & Prosciutto Pizza
Instructions
Pizza Dough
  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl, measure out the flour. Set aside.
  2. In a small saucepan, stir together 1/2 cup of water and 3 Tbsp honey. Heat until 110°F or until warm to the touch. Stir to dissolve the honey. Remove from the heat and pour the water into a liquid measuring cup. Stir in 4 tsp of active dry yeast. Allow to sit 10 minutes for the yeast to activate.
  3. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the activated yeast. Add 3 Tbsp of olive oil and the salt. Using an electric mixture fitted with a dough hook, mix the dough on low–it should be shaggy and dry. Slowly begin to add the remaining 1 cup of water until the dough begins to pull away from the side of the bowl and you’re left with a slightly sticky dough–you may not need to use all of the water. If you don’t have, or don’t want to use, a mixer, you can also mix the dough by hand, slowly adding water until you’re left with a sticky, combined dough.
  4. Sprinkle the dough with a little bit of flour and allow to rest for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes has passed. Dump the dough out on a lightly floured work surface and knead for 1-2 minutes until you have a smooth dough that you can form into a ball. Lightly oil a large bowl and place the ball of dough in the bowl to rise. Score the top of the dough then cover the bowl with a lightly greased piece of plastic wrap and a clean towel. Allow to rise in a warm area for 1.5-2 hours until doubled in size.
  5. Once risen, knock the air out of the dough. Cut off a piece of dough, about 1/3 of the size, and roll or stretch to the desired size and thickness before topping.
Pear & Prosciutto Pizza
  1. WHILE THE DOUGH IS RISING, MAKE THE GRUYERE SAUCE: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 Tbsp of butter. Stir in 2 Tbsp of flour and stir until the flour is cooked out and you have a thick paste. Slowly add in the warm whole milk a little at a time, stirring or whisking until the paste has thinned and you have a thick sauce. Continue to add in the milk a little at a time, stirring as you go. Stir until the sauce begins to thicken. Add in the grated Gruyere, garlic powder, and salt and pepper. Continue to heat and stir until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon–if you were to run a finger through the coated spoon, the sauce should not drip into the empty space. Pour the sauce into a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap so that the wrap touches the surface of the cheese sauce–this helps keep a skin from forming. Set aside.
  2. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Lightly grease a round pizza pan or a large sheet pan with olive oil and sprinkle with corn meal. Grab 1/3 of the dough–or more or less depending on your preferred size of pizza–and stretch or roll to your desired size of pie. The outer edges/crust should be a bit thicker than the middle, but be careful not to tear the dough (if you do, you can always add a little piece to cover the rip). If you’re not forming the dough to your prepared pan, transfer it to the pan and reshape as needed.
  3. Spread 2-4 spoons of Gruyere sauce over the dough, ending just before the edge of the crust. Add thin slices of Bartlett pear (I use about 1/2 a medium-large pear) and distribute evenly around the pizza. Tear the slices of prosciutto and add them to the pizza in small mounds, distributing evenly around the pear. Repeat with the drained Burrata or fresh mozzarella. Drizzle with olive oil.
  4. Bake on the bottom rack of the oven for 10-12 minutes (depending on the size and thickness of your pizza, you may need to check it earlier–I usually make mine at least 10 inches across and stretch the dough fairly thin in the center). The fresh cheese should be melted, the pears should be softened, and the prosciutto should be a bit crispy. Carefully lift the bottom of the pizza to check for doneness. Once the bottom is a light golden brown, add a small handful of arugula to the top and transfer the pizza to the middle rack of the oven. Cook for an additional 2 minutes.
  5. Remove the pizza from the oven and add another small handful of arugula. Drizzle with honey and sprinkle with ground black pepper and chili flakes if desired. Slice and serve!
Recipe Notes

* The amount of pear/prosciutto/cheese/arugula that you use depends on the size of your pizza. Don’t go too overboard because the pear and cheese do release some water and you don’t want a soggy pizza. I try to distribute the toppings so that you get a bit of everything on every slice but nothing overlaps until you add the arugula at the end.

Share this: