A Quick Saturday Lunch: Fresh Fig & Goat Cheese Naan “Pizza”

One of my favorite things to do at home is poke around the fridge and the pantry to gather ingredients and make something from my finds. That’s why Adam’s recent post: Raid-The-Fridge-Frittata resonated with me so much. It’s also the one point of my wife’s envy of my culinary skills. She’s more, shall we say: strict, in following recipes exactly as written. Whenever we are in the kitchen together she’ll watch me pick up the recipe now and then while prepping my mis en place, her method would be to follow it with exact measurements. To say she’s not experimental is an understatement. She’s often reading the recipe as I’m prepping and saying things like: “that’s not in the recipe” or “are you sure that’s not too much….?” This is why she’s a much better baker than me! P.S. she eats almost everything I cook with pleasure!
So today’s harvest of the fridge and pantry produced the ingredients for Fresh Fig & Goat Cheese Pizza, a perfect lazy day lunch.

This recipe is a riff on one that I made at my Son’s house in Rhode Island on his grill, as an appetizer during a summer party a few years ago. Back here in our New York apartment grilling is not an option.
The base of the “pizza” is the purchased Naan Bread you see in the first photo. Remember, point number one for this is Quick! The bread is brushed with Extra Virgin Olive Oil that has been infused with chopped Fresh Thyme. Next, spread Goat Cheese over the bread and top that with thinly sliced Fresh Figs. I brushed the figs with more of the infused Olive Oil and sprinkled on Sea Salt and Freshly Ground White Pepper. Popped this into a 425º oven right on the oven rack for a few minutes–also not great at timing things–the wife is rolling her eyes! When I saw the edges of the Naan browning I pulled the pizza out onto my pizza peel.
Another trick I recently discovered by accident is when baking pizzas in my oven I use the convection roast option, this rolls the hot air around the pizza and ensures the toppings do some cooking without getting “broiled” to a crisp. Though that is an option I use sometimes when I want some caramelization on the top.
This is a pretty straight forward process and certainly adaptable using other soft cheeses and herbs of your choice. I think goat cheese is the perfect tang for the figs and thyme is moderately strong herb, less pronounced than say rosemary. Another favorite is well drained Ricotta with caramelized Red Onions finished with Balsamic Vinegar reduction. And certainly, there are many other possible bases that keep it quick and simple, and of course a great thin crust pizza dough made from scratch would be awesome!

While the “pizza” was baking I poked around the fridge a little more and discovered an all but forgotten jar of Balsamic Jelly! It’s probably been sitting amongst the gazillion condiments for 6 months or so. Can’t even remember where I bought it, probably some gourmet shop on one of our travels, possibly a cheese shop? A remote Italian Deli? A Pasta Store? Who knows, though I do clearly remember using it as a garnish over Roasted Strawberries that were marinated in Balsamic Vinegar, drained and poured over Vanilla Ice Cream! Yes, it was very yummy! But that’s another impromptu recipe!
I spooned small chunks of the jelly onto the fig slices and it added a nice sweet/acidic touch. We cut the “pizza” into quarters and enjoyed our Fresh Fig & Goat Cheese “Pizza”. Some Arugula Salad would be a good accompaniment, or better yet spread on top! That would have required planning! Maybe next time!
Again, thinking beyond the Balsamic Jelly, you could use a Balsamic Glaze or even your own reduction of Balsamic Vinegar. The sliced figs could actually be soaked in the reduction for a few minutes before assembling the “pizza”. Out of fresh fig season you could used dried figs reconstituted in warm Balsamic Vinegar for a wondrous warming wintry version!
There you have it another great Quick Saturday Lunch! Wonder what we’ll discover for Sunday?

Categories: Recipes