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Innovative California-Style Fruit Pizza |
Anything goes for pizza ingredients in California since
Wolfgang Puck left his signature in Hollywood decades ago with his restaurant,
Spago. With that same sense of innovation and experimentation, I created this
savory and sweet fruit pizza recipe. With the savory flavors of blue cheese,
caramelized red onions, and bacon, with the summer fresh fruits of figs and
blueberries, this recipe combines one of my favorite summertime flavor combinations.
With premade pizza dough available in the grocery stores at Whole Foods and
other locations, it’s very quick to
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Spago in Maui by Wolfgang Puck |
make your own signature pizza. But, if you
would like to make your own dough from scratch, I’ve included the pizza dough recipe
from Spago.
for great original pizza flavor combinations at Spago, his second restaurant, opened
in West Hollywood on the Sunset Strip in 1982, which was an instant success and
culinary phenomenon. He had the smarts to hire pizza innovator, Ed LaDou, as
his first pizza chef. LaDou started cooking in San Francisco in the 1970’s,
where he was discovered by Puck. LaDou is credited with developing the now
famous Gourmet California style pizzas with at the time, unheard of and unorthodox
ingredients. The original menu included pizzas topped with ingredients such as duck
sausage, barbeque chicken, or smoked salmon and caviar. He also developed the
recipes for the popular California Pizza Kitchen Restaurant. LaDou’s creations put
Spago on the gourmet map, not just in Los Angeles but throughout the world.
Wheat Pizza Dough
Figs, de-stemmed and sliced crosswise
Bacon, chopped small
Onion, chopped into 2” lengths, cooked to soften just until it starts to brown
pepper
Fresh Thyme Leaves, garnish on top if desired
oven to 450 degrees. Lightly spray pizza stone with olive oil cooking spray.
Place dough on pizza stone. With a roller, gently spread out dough, working
from the center outwards, to nearly the full diameter of the pizza stone. Start
with blue cheese and arrange rest of ingredients evenly over pizza dough. Season
with salt and pepper.Bake for 15 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Remove from oven. Garnish with thyme, if desired. Let cool 3 minutes before cutting.
Stewart Show
water; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook,
combine flour and salt. Add oil, yeast mixture, and remaining 3/4 cup warm
water; mix on low speed until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and
clusters around the dough hook, about 5 minutes.
hand until dough is smooth and firm, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer dough to a large
bowl, and cover with a clean, damp kitchen towel. Place bowl in a warm spot,
and let rise for 30 minutes.
each ball by pulling down the sides and tucking under the bottom of the ball;
repeat 4 or 5 times. On a clean, unfloured surface, roll the ball under the
palm of your hand until dough is smooth and firm, about 1 minute. Repeat with
remaining balls; cover with a damp towel, and let rest for 15 to 20 minutes. Prepare as needed and arrange
desired toppings.
up to two days in the refrigerator. To freeze, you can wrap the dough in
plastic and freeze it in a resealable freezer bag for up to 3 months. If you
plan to use it in a recipe that calls for half a batch, divide it before
freezing. Place frozen dough balls in refrigerator to thaw overnight before
using.