Fig and Prosciutto Flatbread
Crispy flatbread topped with fresh figs, salty prosciutto, and peppery arugula
- 1 lbpizza dough(store-bought or homemade)
- 8fresh figs(quartered)
- 4 ozprosciutto(thinly sliced)
- 4 ozgoat cheese(crumbled)
- 2 cupsarugula
- 3 tbspolive oil(divided)
- 2 tbspbalsamic glaze
- 2 tbsphoney
- flaky sea salt
- black pepper
Dough can be stretched and shaped up to 2 hours ahead. Top and bake just before serving.
- 1Preheat oven to 450°F with pizza stone or inverted baking sheet inside
- 2Stretch dough to thin oval or rectangle on floured surface
- 3Transfer to parchment-lined cutting board or pizza peel
- 4Brush dough with 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 5Scatter goat cheese and fig quarters over dough
- 6Slide flatbread (with parchment) onto hot stone
- 7Bake 12-15 minutes until crust is golden and crispy
- 8Remove from oven and immediately drape prosciutto over hot flatbread
- 9Top with arugula and drizzle with remaining olive oil, balsamic glaze, and honey
- 10Finish with flaky salt and pepper
- 11Cut into pieces and serve immediately
Fresh figs are essential - dried won't work here. Mission and Brown Turkey varieties are most common. Add prosciutto after baking so it stays silky, not crispy. The hot flatbread wilts the arugula slightly, which is desirable. Preheating the stone is crucial for crispy crust.
This flatbread combines two of Italy's most beloved pairings in one preparation: figs with prosciutto (a classic Italian antipasto documented from Renaissance kitchens) and the flatbread tradition that stretches from ancient Roman panis focacius to Ligurian focaccia. Figs (Ficus carica) are among the world's oldest cultivated fruits, with evidence of deliberate cultivation in the Jordan Valley dating to approximately 9,400 BCE. The combination of fresh figs with cured prosciutto appears in the 16th-century cookbook of Bartolomeo Scappi, chef to Pope Pius V, who documented it as a refined antipasto of the Italian Renaissance table. Goat cheese (chèvre) has been produced in France for thousands of years, with French artisan producers developing the fresh, tangy style that became widely available in American markets from the 1980s onward. Arugula (Eruca vesicaria) is native to the Mediterranean and has been cultivated since Roman times; it was used as a salad green and digestive herb in ancient Roman cooking and remained a fixture of Italian cuisine through the medieval and Renaissance periods, though it only became widely available in American markets in the 1990s. The flatbread format unifies these ingredients in a single layered composition where sweetness (figs), salt (prosciutto), tang (goat cheese), and pepper (arugula) each have their moment.