Alexandra Stafford’s Peach Pizza with Jalapeños, Prosciutto and Crème Fraiche – Marin Independent Journal

This flavorful white pizza is topped with prosciutto. (Getty Images)

The pizza was inspired by Vermont’s Open Hearth Pizza, and was created by cookbook author and food blogger Alexandra Stafford and her aunt Marcy with guidance from owner Chris Jones.

Stafford explains in her new cookbook, “Pizza Night: Delicious Recipes for Pizza and Salad” (Clarkson Potter, $30), that Aunt Marcy was known for making not just friends but best friends with everyone she met. When Marcy met Jones at a graduation party, she tried the pizza and “headed straight for the outdoor pizza oven.”

While Jones uses freshly milled flour, a sourdough starter, and an outdoor wood-fired oven to make her pizzas, Stafford has devised a recipe that’s more accessible to home cooks, using a “Neapolitan” dough and a conventional oven. The highlight of the white pizza is the toppings of peaches, jalapeños, and prosciutto, which she says “have the perfect combination of sweet, savory, and salty to make this a totally irresistible pizza.”

Peach pizza with jalapeno, prosciutto and crème fraiche

1 12 inch pizza

material

1 ball of Neapolitan pizza dough

Semolina, rice flour, or all-purpose flour (for dusting)

2 tablespoons room temperature crème fraîche

1/4 cup thinly sliced ​​jalapenos

1 cup (about 3 ounces) thinly sliced ​​peaches

3 ounces reduced-moisture whole-milk mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 3/4 cup)

5 slices of prosciutto

Extra virgin olive oil

direction

Prepare the dough: Transfer the dough from the storage container to a larger, lightly floured container and let rise at room temperature for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Prepare your oven and pizza peel: About 1 hour before baking the pizza, place a baking steel in the top third of your oven and preheat it to 550 degrees (or the highest temperature) on convection roast. Lightly dust a pizza peel with flour or top with parchment paper.

Roll out the dough: Lightly flour a work surface. With lightly floured hands, pat the dough flat and roll it out, rotating it slowly on the back of your hand, into a 10-11 inch circle. Be careful not to crush the beautiful air holes in the dough. When the dough becomes too difficult to roll out, set it aside on the work surface to rest for 5-10 minutes before continuing to roll it out. Transfer the rolled out dough to the prepared peel and shake to prevent sticking.

Pizza Topping: Spread the crème fraîche over the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border. Add the jalapeño and peach slices, evenly spaced apart. Scatter evenly over the mozzarella. Add the prosciutto slices, evenly spaced apart. Drizzle lightly with olive oil. Pull edges outward one last time to stretch the dough. Sprinkle toppings evenly if desired, and give the peel one last shake to prevent the dough from sticking.