Roasted Fig Pizza With Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese

As I write this, the last of the figs have been harvested and my tree is starting to shed its leaves for winter. So it’s only fitting that my last fig recipe of the season also be the best — a gourmet concoction of juicy roasted figs, sweet caramelized onions, and melt-in-your-mouth creamy goat cheese that looks like you put a lot more effort in it than you really did. Who knew that gourmet can be whipped up on a weeknight?

This sauceless vegetarian pizza is so good that even my most carnivorous friends are surprised by how much flavor it packs with so few ingredients. You can use fresh figs or frozen figs, and creamy goat cheese or crumbled goat cheese. It’s a simple pizza that can be made even simpler by using store-bought dough, either the fresh kind that you roll out, or a ready-made crust. If you go with a crust, choose an extra thin artisan crust to turn this pizza into a delicious appetizer!

And if you want to up the wow factor, you can grill the whole thing on homemade flatbread dough for a smoky, sweet and savory flavor that makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

Roasted Fig Pizza with Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese

Makes 12-inch pizza

Ingredients

5 medium figs
3 small onions
3 tablespoons coconut oil (or olive oil), divided
1 tablespoon golden brown cane sugar
1 (12-inch) pizza dough or pizza crust (homemade or store-bought)
Creamy goat cheese
Flour or cornmeal (optional, for dusting pizza stone)

Making Your Roasted Fig Pizza with Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese

Preheat oven to 450ºF (or the temperature that your pizza dough calls for).

Destem and cut your figs in half lengthwise. Slice them thinly and set aside.

Halve your onions lengthwise and slice them into thin strips.

In a large saucepan over medium-low heat, melt 1 to 2 tablespoons of coconut oil (or substitute an equal amount of olive oil) — just enough to thinly coat the bottom of the pan.

Add the onion slices and stir to coat all the slices evenly in oil.

Add the brown sugar and continue stirring every few minutes until the onions are caramelized to your liking. Full caramelization — when the onions are nice and brown with small bits sticking to the pan — takes about 30 minutes, but you can simply cook them down until they are soft and translucent.

If you are using fresh dough, heavily dust a pizza peel or pizza stone with flour or cornmeal, and stretch or roll out the dough into a 12-inch round.

Remove the onions from heat and top your pizza dough with all the caramelized onion slices, leaving a small border for the crust.

Add fig slices on top of the onions.

Smear dots of goat cheese on top of all that — in my opinion, the more the better.

With the remaining oil, brush a thin layer of melted coconut oil (or olive oil) over the figs.

The best crust comes from baking on a pizza stone. Bake your pizza for 10 to 15 minutes, or the length of time required by your dough. Remove from the oven when the crust is crisp and the cheese has started to brown.

Buon appetito!