Four Cheese Balsamic Fig Flambé

To prepare the Pizza Dough:

Stir together flour, salt and yeast in mixing bowl. Add all the water and stir with a large spoon or use the paddle attachment and mix on low speed for 30 seconds to form a shaggy dough. Add oil if using. Increase speed to medium and mix for another 30 to 60 seconds to make a wet, coarse, slightly sticky dough. Let dough rest five minutes to fully hydrate. If using an electric mixer, switch to dough hook and increase speed to medium-high (or continue mixing by hand) and mix for another two to three minutes, to make a smooth dough. Add more flour if needed; the dough should be soft and supple, tacky but not sticky to the touch, and bounce back when touched. Transfer dough to a lightly oiled work surface; stretch and fold the dough to form a round ball. Invert mixing bowl to cover and let dough rest for 2 minutes. Repeat stretching, folding and resting dough 2 more times. The dough will now be smooth, supple and tacky but not sticky. Place dough into a lightly oiled bowl or container. Roll dough around to coat with oil, then cover container with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 12 to 72 hours. On the day you plan to bake, remove dough from refrigerator three hours before baking. Divide and round dough into 9-ounce balls and place them on sheet pan lined with lightly oiled parchment paper or silicone mat or use dough box. Mist the dough balls with vegetable spray and cover until ready to use.

To prepare Cheese Sauce:

Whisk together Mascarpone, Crème Fraîche and Crescenza cheese. Whisk in salt, pepper and ground coriander. Fill four uncut pastry bags with six ounces each of Cheese Sauce. Fill an additional uncut pastry bag with the remaining Cheese Sauce. Refrigerate until day of use but remove from refrigerator four to six hours before assembling pizzas to make sauce easier to pipe.

To prepare the Fig Sauce:

Bring the balsamic vinegar to a boil. Turn off heat and whisk in fig slurry and hot sauce. It should be the consistency of a runny jam or heavy cream. Set aside to cool until ready to use.

To prepare the Toppings:

Bake bacon at 350°F until crisp and golden, about 20 to 30 minutes. Drain, cool and coarsely chop into 1/4 to 1/2-inch crumbles. Set aside until ready to assemble. Toss julienned onions with salt and pepper; set aside.

To prepare Pizza:

Three hours before assembly, removed prepared dough balls and allow to wake up and begin swelling. When ready, preheat oven to 500°F. Stretch one dough ball to round approximately 10 to 11 inches and lay on pizza peel that has been dusted with flour, semolina or cornmeal. Cut off the tip of one pastry bag with Cheese Sauce to make 1/2-inch opening. Pipe Cheese Sauce in concentric circles, starting 1/2-inch from edge into center, leaving one inch at center uncovered. Distribute 1/4 of onions over surface. Cover with 1/2 cup of shredded smoked Scamorza cheese. Use a tablespoon or squeeze bottle to drizzle four streaks of Fig Sauce in parallel lines over round. Distribute 1/4 of chopped, cooked bacon over the top (or omit for vegetarian version and use additional smoked cheese). Slide pizza onto preheated stone and bake for five to seven minutes, rotating halfway through, until crust is rich, golden brown. Remove pizza and transfer to a cutting board. Use the piping bag with extra Cheese Sauce and pipe six to eight dollops over hot pizza. Garnish with a sprinkle of diced chives. Cut into six or eight slices to serve.

Recipe developed by Peter Reinhart, Johnson and Wales University, Charlotte, N.C.