This Pear and Goat Cheese Pizza is a perfect combo of savory and sweet: fall pears, summer sausage, creamy & rich truffle goat cheese, and balsamic vinegar. It’s simple, elegant, and perfect for feeling a little fancy.
The Crust
Pizza recipes almost aren’t even really recipes. And sometimes, almost-not-recipes are the best. But not when it comes to the crust. When there’s yeast, there’s science, and that means a real recipe.
I don’t provide a crust recipe because I don’t know enough about making pizza dough from scratch to create my own. Maybe someday after I’ve made enough of them I’ll be able to do that. But until then, there are so many good choices out there already.
My new favorite crust recipe is Ken Folkish’s Saturday Pizza Dough recipe in the Jul/Aug issue of Bake From Scratch. It’s from his 2016 book The Elements of Pizza.
You can grab the recipe from his book, the 2018 Jul/Aug Bake from Scratch issue, or here.
Deb Perelman from Smitten Kitchen has a slightly modified version of Jim Lahey’s Basic Pizza Dough that is easy and tasty. It’s great if you didn’t plan on making pizza and can’t schedule your whole day around making the crust. You just have to wait two hours rather than eight.
Or you could explore. The people at Serious Eats have a Pizza-Making Guide with TONS of links to all the different recipes they’ve created. It’s broken up by regional styles, specialty doughs and techniques, inspired by pizza, and tips and tricks. So many choices!
Pear and Goat Cheese Pizza
My sister’s husband and his family have pizza nights where they make a whole bunch of dough and set out different toppings so people can create their own pizzas. I randomly put together a pear, summer sausage, goat cheese, and balsamic pizza one night that I wanted to eventually share here.
There’s no sauce in this pizza but I do like to rub some extra virgin olive oil into the dough and sprinkle Kosher salt on top before adding any of the toppings. Salt helps bring out all the other flavors and makes a big difference. The sliced pears go on next, followed by the summer sausage, goat cheese and balsamic.
You can use regular goat cheese and this pizza will still taste amazing. I’m a sucker for trying out new cheeses when I see them though and I had an inkling that the Truffle Tremor from Cypress Grove would go really well with the pears and balsamic vinegar. The subtle amount of truffle in the cheese adds a richness that the acid from the pears and balsamic help balance out. Also, you’ll feel fancy AF.
I love wine and pizza together, normally red. But I paired a nice buttery chardonnay with this Pear and Goat Cheese Pizza and it really made my day, and I hope it makes yours too if you try it.
Pear and Goat Cheese Pizza
Ingredients
- Favorite pizza crust of choice
- 1 to 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt or smoked salt to get a smoky fire taste, to taste
- 1 to 2 pears peeled and thinly sliced
- 4 to 8 ounces summer sausage thinly sliced (about 1/3-1/2 a whole summer sausage)
- 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup goat cheese crumbled (I used Cypress Grove’s Truffle Tremor for a super gourmet pizza)
- 1 to 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar drizzle it over the pizza and use more if necessary
Instructions
- Follow the baking instructions for your favorite pizza crust recipe. I used Ken Folkish’s Saturday Pizza Dough recipe in the Jul/Aug issue of Bake From Scratch. The pizza bakes at 550 degrees Fahrenheit for 5 minutes + 1 to 2 minutes under the broiler. I’ve included links to some of my favorite pizza crust recipes in the blog post and also in the recipe notes if you’re looking for some inspiration.
- Once you’ve prepared your crust and have the dough laid out, drizzle some olive oil on top of the dough and use the tips of your fingers to spread it around. You don’t want pools of oil but enough that you can see it.
- Sprinkle some Kosher salt or smoked sea salt onto the surface of the dough.
- Spread out the slices of pears, summer sausage, and crumbled goat cheese in that order onto the pizza dough. Finish with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.
- Bake in the oven until the rim of your crust is golden (for me, 5 minutes at 550 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Switch the oven to broil and broil until the cheese is melted and the crust has a few spots of darker brown as well as a few char spots.
- Let the pizza cool for 5 minutes before slicing or serving.
