Perfecting an Almost Perfect Pizza

What is the perfect pizza? The crust should be thin and crispy, and it should hold the weight of the toppings above it. The sauce should be a perfect savory balance of flavors, low in acidic bite, high in flavor. Or, the sauce should be left out and the crust coated with a thin brush of extra good olive oil. And then the toppings, what are the perfect toppings? For my perfect, or almost perfect pizza, I top the crust with caramelized onions, arugula, black mission figs, and soft, crumbled goat cheese.

In June, I was so close to constructing the perfect pizza, but something was missing. I thought the pizza I describe above needed a little something to balance out the sweetness of the caramelized onions, the figs and the sweet and tangy goat cheese. A small dose of balsamic vinegar should do the trick, I thought. So last night, I made this pizza again, and caramelized the onions along with some good 10 year aged balsamic vinegar. Was the pizza perfect? I don't know. I may need to make one with the balsamic vinegar and one without, on the same night, and do a taste test.

Whatever the case may be, my pizza of caramelized onions, arugula, black mission figs, and soft, crumbled goat cheese, drizzled with good olive oil (no sauce,) is the best pizza ever to come out of my kitchen. Should I continue to try and tweak it or leave a good thing alone and just enjoy one damn good pizza? I'll think about it while I'm at Fenway Park tonight watching the Boston Red Sox play baseball, eating a Fenway Frank and drinking an overpriced, watered down beer - it's all part of the Fenway Experience!

Constructing the Almost Perfect Pizza

I know, I'm way behind on posting; I still have plenty more from India and a recent trip to Switzerland. I also have some 'material' from a great restaurant in Boston called Toro and a Greek restaurant called The Aegean from right here in Framingham where I live.

But, love is in the air, and tonight was pizza night in Chez One Food Guy. Pizza night in my house started back in February and since then many pizzas have been made in my kitchen. I've tried whole wheat dough and herbed dough, no more though since the plain dough is simply the best. I've made pizzas with spinach, eggplant, chicken, and pepperoni, lots of sauce or a little sauce, and always a blend of Manchego, Pecorino Romano, and sometimes Cordobes - all sheep's milk cheeses.

Tonight was a special night though, I had a great pizza cooking in my head all day and couldn't wait to get home to make it. I stopped at Trader Joe's on my way home to pick up the dough and other necessary ingredients. Ladies and gentlemen, tonight, I made a caramelized onion, baby arugula (also known as rocket,) black mission fig and goat cheese pizza. My inspiration for this pizza came from a couple different places, for the arugula and goat cheese, thank you Wednesday Chef, and for the figs, thank you to my good friend Jason in Luzern, Switzerland. He recently made me a salad with fresh figs and now I can't get enough of them; I used dried figs for this pizza. The caramelized onions were all my own. Here is how I made this fabulous pizza.

Black mission figs, caramelized red onion, baby arugula, Trader Giotti's basic pizza dough, Trader Joe's First Lady Reserve unfiltered olive oil, and soft goat cheese (not pictured)

After letting the dough rest on the counter while I caramelized the onions, I stretched it gingerly over the back of my floured knuckles just so it was paper thin, almost to the point of tearing. I lay the dough across a pizza peel dusted with corn meal.

Next, I gently brushed the dough with unfiltered (flavorful) olive oil and spread out the caramelized onions.

On top of the caramelized onions goes a nice thick layer of baby arugula; don't worry, the arugula will wilt down.

I then generously sprinkled on some black mission figs that I quartered

and some soft goat cheese. And topped it all with some kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, and a good drizzle of the Trader Joe's First Lady Reserve unfiltered olive oil.

Then onto the pizza stone in a 475° oven and ten minutes later...

We have the Almost Perfect Pizza!

You're wondering why it's the Almost Perfect Pizza, right? Well this pizza was certainly delicious. The crust was perfectly thin and crispy. The caramelized onions, arugula, figs and goat cheese were nearly perfect together. But something was missing, just a little something to offset the sweetness of the fig and caramelized onions. The missing piece, I believe, is a little acidity to balance out the sweetness. This pizza as it is has shot to the very top of my pizza menu, and next time I will caramelize the onions with just a touch of aged balsamic vinegar...PERFECTION!

Arugula and Goat Cheese Frittata

Eggs. They're almost as versatile as the chicken itself. I like mine over easy, scrambled, or poached. I like omelets and eggs Benedict. And when I'm having brunch at my house, I like frittatas! They are so simple and are always a hit with the crowds.

Just before the new year my wife had some girlfriends over for brunch - I was asked to make a frittata so I decided on arugula and goat cheese it was delicious. If you want to try this at home, it's super easy. Start with a good bunch of arugula, trimmed of the stems and washed very well. Where I buy my arugula, it seems like it's just been plucked from the ground, roots still intact, leaves and stems still full of earth. Once you've stemmed and washed the arugula, add a little olive oil and about a tablespoon of butter to a non-stick pan over medium-high heat and preheat the broiler.

Add the arugula to the pan with a pinch of kosher salt and a few turns on the pepper mill. While the arugula is wilting down, beat a dozen eggs in a mixing bowl until frothy - you can cheat and mix them in a blender, just don't blend them too much! When the arugula has wilted down, add a clove of garlic, minced, stir, and pour in the eggs. Turn the heat down to medium now, you don't want to burn the eggs before you get them in the oven. Let the eggs cook on the stovetop for a few minutes until the bottom sets and the top is still uncooked. At this point, cut the end of a 4-6oz. log of soft goat cheese and pinch little bits of the goat cheese all around the top of the eggs. When finished, place the pan under the broiler - make sure your pan is oven-proof and doesn't have a rubber handle!


Keep a close eye on the pan while it's under the broiler, you want the top to brown up and the eggs to set, but you don't want anything to burn. It may take about 5 minutes.

Once the top is brown and the eggs are set, take the pan out of the broiler and carefully slide the frittata onto a plate.

I use a serrated knife to cut the frittata into wedges.


Enjoy!