This pizza was inspired by Vermont’s Open Hearth Pizza, where cookbook author and food blogger Alexandra Stafford and her aunt, Marcy, received a tutorial from owner Chris Jones.
Aunt Marcy, Stafford explains in her new cookbook, “Pizza Night: Deliciously Doable Recipes for Pizza and Salad” (Clarkson Potter, $30), is known for not just befriending but best-friending everyone she meets. Marcy met Jones at a graduation party, after she sampled this pizza and “beelined it to the outdoor pizza oven.”
Jones uses freshly milled flour, sourdough starter and an outdoor wood-burning oven for his pizzas, but Stafford makes the recipe more accessible for home cooks with a “Neapolitanish” dough and regular oven. The highlight of this white pizza is its topping — peaches, jalapeños and prosciutto, “a combination that hits all of those sweet, spicy, salty notes, making it completely irresistible,” she says.
Makes one 12-inch pizza
1 ball Neapolitanish pizza dough
Semolina flour, rice flour or all-purpose flour, for dusting
2 tablespoons crème fraîche, at room temperature
1/4 cup thinly sliced jalapeños
1 cup thinly sliced peaches (about 3 ounces)
3 ounces low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella cheese, pulled into 1/2-inch pieces (about 3/4 cup)
5 slices prosciutto
Extra-virgin olive oil
Prepare the dough: Transfer the dough from its storage container to a roomier, lightly floured, covered container and allow it to proof at room temperature for 1½ to 2 hours.
Prepare the oven and pizza peel: About 1 hour before you want to bake the pizza, place a baking steel in the top third of the oven and preheat itto 550 degrees convection roast (or as high as it will go). Dust a pizza peel lightly with flour or top with parchment paper.
Stretch the dough: Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Using lightly floured hands, pat the dough gently to flatten it, then stretch it into a 10- to 11-inch round by laying it on the back of your hands and gently rotating it, taking care not to depress the beautiful air pockets in the dough. If the dough begins resisting, set it down on the work surface to rest for 5 to 10 minutes, then continue stretching. Transfer the stretched dough to the prepared peel and give it a shake to ensure it’s not sticking.
Top the pizza: Spread the crème fraîche over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Top with the jalapeño and peach slices, spacing them evenly. Scatter the mozzarella evenly over the top. Lay the prosciutto slices over the top, spacing evenly. Drizzle lightly with olive oil. Stretch the dough one last time by pulling outward on the edges. Redistribute the toppings as needed, then give the peel one last shake to ensure the dough is not sticking.
Bake the pizza: Shimmy the pizza (still on the parchment if using) onto the steel and bake until the cheese is melted and the edges are beginning to char, 5 to 6 minutes. (This may take 8 to 10 minutes, depending on your oven.) Use tongs to transfer the pizza to a cutting board (discard the parchment paper). Cut and serve.
— Courtesy Alexandra Stafford ,“Pizza Night: Deliciously Doable Recipes for Pizza and Salad,” (Clarkson Potter, $30)
