Grilled Apricots & Spicy Goat Cheese
Goat cheese rolled in red pepper flakes, grilled apricots, blanched almonds, honey drizzle, fresh basil
This pizza is super simple, but really flavorful with an intense combination of spicy and sweet. I always get really excited about the time of year when fresh apricots are in season—they taste great on their own, but grilling them really takes things to another level with very minimal effort. Plus, they go with almost anything: salad, ice cream, grilled halloumi, and, duh, pizza.
Recipe
Instructions: 1 ball of dough flour for dusting
semolina flour for pizza stone salt & pepper olive oil 4-6 apricots, pitted & cut into wedges honey ¼ cup red pepper flakes 1-2 logs of goat cheese ½ cup almonds (marcona if you can find them, otherwise regular almonds work just as well—and are cheaper, too) small bunch basil, chiffonaded (an easy way to do this is to roll the leaves up in a coil and then cut a couple times crosswise down the roll) honey (enough to drizzle on top)
Directions: To start, preheat your oven to 550° F. Then preheat whatever grill method you’re using. If you want to use the outdoor grill, go for it—we were lazy and just used our Cuisinart Griddler, preheated to medium-high.
When your grill is hot, place the apricot wedges directly onto it and let them cook until they are nice and charred on each side. Set them aside until you’re ready to put the pizza together.
While the apricots are cooking, fill a small bowl with red pepper flakes and just roll your logs of goat cheese until they are fully coated. You can adjust the amount of red pepper depending on how much spice you like. Next, cut the logs into about ½-inch slices.
When your oven is hot, prepare your dough using the instructions on the right. After you’ve baked it for a minute, take it out and brush it lightly with olive oil.
Lay out the goat cheese and apricots evenly so there’s not a lot of empty space on the dough (since the goat cheese won’t melt and spread out like other cheeses). Sprinkle with the almonds and drizzle generously with honey, then pop it in the oven. Bake until the crust is a nice golden brown, then take it out, top with basil, and enjoy!