Crave Wednesday: Apricot and Prosciutto Thin-Crust Pizza

This is the noisiest pizza I have ever made.  Now I know what you're thinking - noisy pizza?  She must be doing it wrong.  Well, that is certainly a possibility my friends. 

You see, like any good kitchen, mine has a smoke alarm.  A smoke alarm that not only detects smoke, but also heat.  A smoke alarm that does not like when my oven is up at 550.  By the way, my oven doesn't like 550 either.  It got to 545 and started shaking it's head nuh-uh.  545 is apparently as high as it is willing to go.  And my smoke alarm didn't like that either.

Luckily this pizza only cooks for 9 minutes total.  The preheating time is still a bit of an issue, but I suggest you enlist someone tall and handy with a towel to stand and wave the hot air away from the smoke detector.  That's what I did.

Apricot and Prosciutto Thin-Crust Pizza (From Cooking Light)

1/2 cup warm water

1/2 tsp dry yeast

8 1/2 tsp olive oil, divided

1/2 tsp salt, divided

6 oz bread flour

cooking spray

2 Tbsp cornmeal

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

3 apricots, pitted and each cut into 8 wedges

2 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced

3/4 cup crumbled goat cheese

1 1/2 Tbsp finely chopped flat leaf parsley

1 Tbsp minced fresh chives

1 cup arugula

1 oz thinly sliced prosciutto

1/4 cup shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano

1. Combine the water and yeast in a bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook and let stand 5 minutes.
2. Add 4 tsp oil and 1/4 tsp salt to the yeast mixture
3. Add flour to yeast mixture and mix 2 minutes.  Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
4.  Remove dough from fridge and let stand 1 hour.  Punch down.  Sprinkle cornmeal on a baking sheet.  Roll dough into a thin 12-inch circle.  Crimp edges to form a 1/2 inch barrier.  Pierce dough several times with a fork.
5. Place a pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven and preheat the oven to 550.  
6. Combine 1 Tbsp oil, thyme, pepper, apricots, shallots, and 1/4 tsp salt and toss.
7. Slide dough onto the preheated pizza stone.  Bake for 4 minutes.
8. Top dough with goat cheese and apricot mixture.  Bake an additional 5 minutes.
9. Cut pizza into 10 wedges and sprinkle with parsley and chives.
10. Toss arugula with 1 1/2 tsp of oil and arrange over the apricot mixture.
11. Top with prosciutto and Parmigiano-Reggiano.