Gorgonzola, Fig, and Spinach Pizza

The pizza was based on this Vegetarian Times recipe. I didn't use a gluten-free crust.

• 4 oz. Gorgonzola cheese
  
• 1/4 cup milk
• whole-wheat bread dough
  
• 1-2 cups spinach leaves
• 6 fresh figs, quartered
• handful chopped toasted walnuts
• sprinkling of pitted black olives
  

Preheat oven to 500°F. Mash cheese and milk together with spoon or fork until smooth. Spread cheese mixture on a rolled-out round of pizza dough. Top with spinach, figs, nuts, and olives. Bake on pizza stone until crust is browned and cheese is melty.

This pizza was kind of eh. The Gorgonzola and walnuts are nice, but the fresh figs didn't seem to cook enough. I almost think a drizzle of fig jam would be better, or maybe dried figs would give a more intense flavor.The pizza does need a caramelized fruit of some sort, but the fresh figs didn't deliver. It was kind of exciting that the Gorgonzola spread melted. I wouldn't have guessed it would.

We also made a commonplace pizza, with red pizza sauce, spinach, green pepper, and a mixture of fresh and pregrated mozzarella cheese.

I used cornmeal to keep the pizza from sticking to the peel, and it made a big mess in the oven, as usual. Maybe I use too much cornmeal--it tends to accumulate on the peel, blacken, and give off clouds of sooty smoke. It's much tidier to roll out your pizza dough on parchment paper, then slide the pizza in still on the parchment. Less authentic, but tidier.