Before summer is over you must make this Grilled Cherry Gorgonzola Flatbread! Homemade pizza dough is grilled and topped with fresh cherries, bacon and blue cheese! A fun snack and appetizer!
YES! I know all my fellow blue cheese lovers are nodding your heads because blue cheese in any way, shape or form -but especially on pizza- is the BEST way to consume blue cheese.
Back in July, I spent the day turning 1 recipe of homemade pizza dough into 3 unique and delicious flatbreads. It was a day of epic deliciousness and just in case you were on vacay and missed it, there was a peach and prosciutto (with honey and arugula), plum and bacon (with gouda and oregano) and now -dun, dun, dun, DUN- cherry and gorgonzola (with bacon and basil)!
->insert a thousand exclamation points<-
My mouth literally is watering remembering how delicious this flatbread was. Sweet and tart, smoky and funky and did I mention you drizzle it with balsamic reduction? Oh yesssss! I highly recommend you make this and enjoy it with your significant and/or bff and with a bottle of wine.
No regrets. It’s Friday after all!
To Make This Grilled Cherry Gorgonzola Flatbread You Will Need:
- 1/3 of pizza dough recipe
- garlic olive oil
- pitted and halved sweet cherries
- freshly shredded mozzarella cheese
- cooked and crumbled thick-cut bacon
- blue cheese
- balsamic reduction or glaze
- fresh basil leaves.
If you have a cherry pitter, you’re already ahead of the game. I do not. I used a metal straw (from a reusable Starbucks cup) to push the pits out the bottom of the cherries and then sliced each cherry in half. If you’re making a larger flatbread or 3 smaller ones, you may need more cherries, so adjust the measurements.
To make the garlic olive oil:
Start by pouring 1/4 cup olive oil into a small sauce pan. Then add in two cloves of finely minced garlic and heat on low to medium-low until the oil yields a fragrant aroma and the garlic starts to toast and turn lightly golden. Remove off of the heat and let cool. This one recipe I used for all three flatbreads.
Make The Crust:
Step one in making this grilled cherry and gorgonzola flatbread is obviously making the dough. Because I was making 3 different flatbreads, I divided my homemade pizza dough recipe into thirds and let it rise in separate bowls covered lightly with a tea towel. Once risen, I worked with one ball of dough at a time and stretched it as thin as it could. With this said, you certainly can make one large flatbread pizza or two or three smaller ones with the same toppings. Just adjust the topping amounts accordingly. Keep in mind you can also freeze any unused pizza dough!
Back to the dough. When the dough has been stretched to a desired shape and thinness and your grill has preheated to 425°- 450℉ (or 220°-230℃), place the dough onto the lightly oiled grill grates and closed the lid. Let the dough grill for 2 to 3 maybe even 4 minutes. Because my grill runs hot (and yours may too!), I recommend checking it often, and if the underneath is golden and starting to form grill marks, then immediately remove the grilled dough to a large, wood cutting board or pizza peel. Be sure to place the uncooked side facing down.
Then brush the grilled side with that magical garlic olive oil. Top with mozzarella, cherries, bacon and crumbled blue cheese. Place the flatbread back on the grill, close the lid and grill until the cheese has melted and the dough is fully cooked. This should only take a minute or two.
Lastly, drizzle with reduced balsamic or balsamic glaze and top with fresh basil leaves.
Grilled Cherry Gorgonzola Flatbread = Flavortown.
Enjoy! And if you give this Grilled Cherry Gorgonzola Flatbread recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!
Grilled Cherry Gorgonzola Flatbread
Ingredients
- 2 slices thick-cut bacon
- olive oil, for grill
- 1/3 pizza dough recipe, risen and rolled thin
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup grated fresh mozzarella
- 1 cup sweet cherries, pitted and halved
- 1 to 2 ounce gorgonzola blue cheese, crumbled
- fresh basil leaves, for serving
- balsamic glaze, for serving
Instructions
- In a skillet, cook the bacon until crispy, then coarsely chop.
- Wipe (either with an old kitchen towel or paper towel that has been dipped in a little olive oil) the grates of your grill with olive oil before preheating it to 425°- 450℉ (or 220°-230℃).
- Once the pizza dough is stretched to the desired shape and thinness and your grill has preheated, placed the dough onto the lightly oiled grill grates and closed the lid. Grill for 2 to 3 maybe even 4 minutes. Check it and if the underneath is golden and starting to form grill marks, then immediately remove the grilled dough to a large, wood cutting board or pizza peel, placing the uncooked side facing down.
- To make the garlic olive oil. Start by pouring 1/4 cup olive oil into a small sauce pan. Add in two cloves of finely minced garlic and heat on low to medium-low until fragrant and the garlic starts to toast and turn lightly golden. Remove off of the heat and let cool. Note: this one recipe I used for all three flatbreads.
- Brush the grilled side of thew flat bread with the garlic olive oil. Top with mozzarella, cherries, cooked bacon and blue cheese. Place the flatbread back onto the grill and close the lid, grilling until the cheeses have melted and the crust is golden underneath.
- Drizzle with reduced balsamic and sprinkle with fresh basil over top before slicing and serving.
Notes
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