A Family Affair
Salty, sweet, crispy and savory, this pizza is an explosion of flavor. It’s become famous among our family and friends as Jim’s Family Pizza. We’ve developed it over the years, experimenting with combinations of salty prosciutto and sweet apple, balanced with roasted hazelnuts and rosemary. Pizza with prosciutto, apple, and rosemary may become a favorite at your house too!
Inspired by Home
Having grown up in Oregon, we were inspired by favorite ingredients from the Pacific Northwest, like hazelnuts and Cougar Gold cheese. Cougar Gold is a delicious white cheddar made at the Washington State University creamery, and it’s popular throughout the region. Since we’re in New England, we use regional extra sharp white cheddar, like Cabot.
The star ingredients above: thinly sliced prosciutto and apple, finely diced fresh rosemary, roasted chopped hazelnuts, and shredded sharp cheddar cheese. If you’d like to source Oregon hazelnuts and Cougar Gold cheese, we’ve included that information below.
The toasted thin crust enhances the flavor of the roasted hazelnuts. We prefer thin crust pizza, but you can make yours any thickness you desire.
Making Jim’s Family Pizza is truly a family affair in our house, where we consider pizza making an essential skill.
Enjoy!
The perfect combination of savory and sweet toppings on a crispy thin crust.
- 1 cup warm tap water
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose white flour
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 cup coarsely ground corn meal to prevent pizza dough from sticking to pizza peel
- 8 oz extra sharp white cheddar
- 1/2 apple, sliced to about 1/8 inch thick
- 1/4 lb thinly sliced prosciutto, torn into bite sized pieces
- 1/4 cup roasted chopped hazelnuts
- 2 tbs finely minced fresh rosemary
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To make the pizza dough: Fit a standing mixer with a dough hook. Pour water into bowl and add the package of yeast. Let dissolve about 5 minutes.
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Once the yeast mixture is bubbly and dissolved, add salt. Begin adding flour a half cup at a time, stirring on low speed until all flour is incorporated. Finished dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl and form a ball. Do not over stir the dough.
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Form the dough into a ball with your hands. Coat the bowl and dough lightly with olive oil. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest until dough doubles in size, about 1-2 hours depending on how warm and humid it is.
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Once the pizza dough has doubled in size, you will have enough for 3 pizza crusts. Cut into thirds with a sharp knife. Freeze any dough you will not be using immediately. Keeps up to 2 months in freezer.
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To assemble and bake the pizza: Place a pizza stone in the center rack of the oven and heat oven to 500 degrees. Allow to the stone to heat for 30 minutes before adding pizza.
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Generously flour a work surface. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin to about 12 inches in diameter. The shape can be irregular, don't worry about getting a perfectly round crust. We prefer a thin crust, about 1/8 inch thick.
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Transfer dough to a pizza peel that has been sprinkled generously with corn meal. The corn meal acts like ball bearings and makes it easy to slide the crust off of the peel.
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With the crust on the pizza peel, sprinkle all but 1/4 cup of the cheese on the crust. Place apples in a single layer to cover. Add prosciutto. Place into oven and bake for 4 minutes. If you are not familiar with using a pizza peel, use small, jerky movements to slide the pizza onto the baking stone.
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Remove pizza after 4 minutes. Scatter rosemary and hazelnuts onto pizza. Add remaining cheese. Return to oven for 3 minutes. Crust should be golden and toasted before removing.
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Allow to cool for 3 minutes. Cut and serve immediately.
2 Comments
I love these pizzas!!
Donna, we can’t wait to share them with you again soon!