2 Balls of Pizza Dough

2 Handfuls of Rocket

2tbsp Olive Oil

4 Fresh Figs, each cut into eighths

80g Soft Goats Cheese

Runny Honey, for drizzling

Fine Sea Salt

Don’t miss your chance to make this classy pizza when figs are in season. Because there is no sauce, use the best fruit, cheese and honey you can find.

  1. Preheat the oven to 250°C/480°F/gas mark 9 or as high as it will go. Place a pizza stone or an upside-down baking tray in the oven to heat up too. Get all your ingredients and equipment ready, including taking the dough out of the fridge 1 hour before you’re ready to cook.
  2. Place the rocket in a bowl. Drizzle with a little olive oil and season with a pinch of salt (there’s no need for pepper). Toss to coat all the leaves with the oil. This adds extra flavour and also helps protect the rocket from the heat of the oven so that it doesn’t burn.
  3. Place the figs in a separate bowl and drizzle with a little olive oil. Toss gently to make sure all the figs are lightly coated with oil, handling carefully so they don’t break up.
  4. Stretch the pizza dough by hand or roll it out. Sprinkle a pinch of salt evenly over the dough, then brush all over with a really nice olive oil to help it turn golden.
  5. Scatter the figs on top of the dough, then dot small knobs (about ½ teaspoon each) of the goat’s cheese between the figs, aiming to get a good balance of ingredients across the pizza.
  6. Check that there is no liquid on the peel or board or your pizza won’t slide off it. Shake the board gently to see if the pizza will move. If it doesn’t, lift up the pizza with a dough cutter or spatula and sprinkle a little flour on the board until it does move easily.
  7. Slide the pizza off the peel or board onto the pizza stone or upside-down baking tray in the hot oven. Cook for 7-10 minutes, but start checking after 5 minutes – you want the dough to be cooked through and golden. The figs should be soft and will have started to release their juices and the goat’s cheese may be slightly charred in places.
  8. Take the pizza out of the oven. Drizzle with honey and scatter the rocket evenly across the top. Return the pizza to the oven for only 30 seconds to 1 minute more, until the rocket has just started to wilt. Alternatively, skip this step and add the honey and rocket when the pizza is done – the rocket will still wilt slightly from the residual heat of the pizza. Remove from the oven again and transfer to a wire cooling rack. Allow to stand for 1 minute before cutting into slices.

  • words:
  • pictures: Mowie Kay
  • styling: Emily Kidd, Maud Eden & Jo Harris

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