Monday, March 12, 2012

Prosciutto, Jalapeño, Goat Cheese Pizza

Posted by Erin Wilburn / 12 comments » / goat cheese, Nashville, pizza

It’s truly a shame I’ve never shared this combo of toppings with you, as it’s our absolute favorite.  This pizza combo came about one night at a local restaurant, Cabana, which has a great 2-1 pizza special Sunday through Tuesday nights.  We like to go there with friends and order a couple pizzas for a fun (affordable!) night out, and sometimes just Nathan & I go if I don’t feel like cooking.  You can order one of their pizza topping combos, or build your own.  It was sometime after I made (and Nathan became obsessed with) these Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers, that this topping combo came about.  That appetizer was the perfect pairing of flavors for Nathan.  One evening while we were out for the 2-1 special I scanned Cabana’s list of optional toppings and saw Tennessee Proscuitto, and opted to put that on the pizza.  I love goat cheese and thought it would probably go well with the proscuitto, so I added that.  I thought we needed something else to round it out, and when my eyes saw jalapeño peppers as a topping, I was immediately reminded of the jalapeño popper appetizers!  Cream cheese & goat cheese are similar in that they are both soft creamy cheeses, and let’s face it proscuitto is like fancy bacon, right?

Unbaked pizza, ready for the oven!

From first bite we knew this pizza was a winner.  We’ve ordered it countless times since, and have made it at home even more numerous times.  Unfortunately I’ve just never taken the time to photograph it!  I guess it’s one of those things I know I’ll make again & again, so it was never a priority to get a good photo.  In fact, in case you didn’t notice, these photos are actually iPhone photos.  I was just snapping a pic to Instagram & tweet about it, but I had a handful of people ask for the recipe.  So please excuse the lackluster photos, as this recipe is too good to wait any longer for the right photographic opportunity!  (Besides, this was made on Monday night, and it has since been completely devoured!)

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Prosciutto, Jalapeño, Goat Cheese Pizza

Please note that all measurements are approximate. I think we all just eyeball ingredient amounts when making pizza, right? Another great addition to this pizza is mushrooms if you've got some on hand. We didn't have any this time, but sometimes add them and love the flavor.

Ingredients:

1 ball of pizza dough (you can use homemade, or store bought pizza dough)
olive oil (optional)
italian seasoning (optional)
1/4 cup marinara sauce
1/3 - 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 jalapeños, sliced or chopped, (if you want to cut back on the heat, de-seed them first)
2oz (1/4 cup) goat cheese, crumbled
3oz thinly sliced proscuitto (pancetta works great too)
red pepper flakes
fresh cracked pepper
fresh grated parmesan

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. If using a pizza stone, put it in the oven to preheat along with the oven. Roll out pizza dough to desired size and shape. I like to assemble the pizza on parchment paper atop a flexible cutting board for easy transfer to the pizza stone. But sometimes I transfer the dough to the hot pizza stone dusted with cornmeal, and quickly assemble the ingredients. Both methods work fine. For added flavor to the crust, brush edges of pizza with olive oil, and sprinkle with italian seasoning.

Evenly spread marinara sauce onto pizza. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese, followed by jalapeños. Slice the proscuitto slices into 1 inch wide pieces. Layer the proscuitto onto the pizza. I like to sort of "ribbon" them on, so that the pieces are not stretched thin. This way you can fit more on. Top with crumbled goat cheese. Sprinkle on red pepper flakes, and generously finish with fresh cracked black pepper.

Transfer pizza to hot stone (if you haven't already), and bake for approximately 15 minutes until cheese has melted, and center fully warmed & cooked. Let cool 1-2 minutes, then slice & serve topped with fresh grated parmesan.