Figgy Bacon Pizza and Cruella

Hi, welcome to Pizza and a Movie! When September rolls around it’s time for fresh figs. Figs and cheese are one of my favorite flavor combinations. So naturally, a three-cheese pizza with figs and salty, smoky thick-cut bacon is in order! We have some landscape workers in the yard today, so we’re making this pizza in the kitchen, instead of firing up the wood oven. This week’s movie is one I have been patiently waiting to stream with my Disney+ subscription, and it’s finally available for no additional cost – today we’re watching Cruella! So let’s get to the FIggy Bacon Pizza!

This pizza is a flavor powerhouse with Gruyere, Fontina and Blue Cheese, sweet figs and thick-cut Black Forest bacon. I find the Black Forest bacon at Trader Joe’s. It’s easily my favorite bacon; its thick and meaty, dry-rubbed and uncured. But you know, you can leave the bacon off this pie and it’s still just as flavorful and rich – so make it vegetarian if you like!

Building the Figgy Bacon Pizza

Start with preheating the oven to 450 degrees. I like to bake the bacon in a 350 degree oven until it’s lightly crisp. Let it cool and then slice about 3-4 strips into 1-inch pieces. You can do this way ahead of time if you like, or preheat the oven to 350, cook the bacon, then turn up the heat to 450.

Roll or stretch out your dough to roughly 12-inches around. Then start with the shredded Fontina cheese. Then we will go with the figs. I have two kinds of figs: Kadota figs (the lighter colored figs) and Black Mission figs. The Kadota figs are a less-sweet variety that go really well on pizza.

After the figs, we have the Blue Cheese crumbles. Add a generous layer of the cooked bacon, and top the bacon with the shredded Gruyere.

The layer of Gruyere will help protect the bacon from getting too crispy.

Bake this pizza for about 15 minutes, until the crust is puffy and the cheese is bubbly.

Smoky, salty bacon is perfectly matched with sweet flavors; the figs are not overly sweet and they have an earthiness to their flavor that grounds this super-rich pizza combination. Nutty Gruyere and buttery Fontina create a smooth backbone for the pops of pungent Blue Cheese.

Movie Night: Cruella

We have our Figgy Bacon Pizza ready, so let’s start the show! I have been excited to see this movie ever since I read the origin story synopsis. I thought at the time, setting this movie in the fashion world of 1960-1970s London was such a brilliant way to start this classic Disney villain’s story. I love the punk rock fashion and music of that period, so I was really interested to see how they’d do it – being Disney and all. I was not disappointed! The set design, the music and the costuming is brilliantly immersive. Cruella has always been the worst villain to me, because she wanted to kill puppies. But this origin story definitely makes the viewer sympathize with Cruella.

Cruella is a long movie, but it’s so beautifully acted (Emma Stone and Emma Thompson are fantastic!), shot and edited, I hardly noticed its long running time and was more than interested in going along for the ride. If you haven’t yet seen Cruella, put it at the top of your list. Streaming on Disney+ (free with subscription) and it’s available for digital purchase on AppleTV, Amazon, YouTube and Google Play.

Thank you all for joining me today for Pizza and a Movie! In case you’ve missed any pizza recipes or want more pizza inspiration, check out the Series tab, Pizza and a Movie. You can also check out my Instagram Stories Highlight: Pizza. Have a wonderful holiday weekend, and I will see you here again Sunday for Sunday Supper. Take care and be well, everyone. xo Kelly

Print Recipe

Figgy Bacon Pizza

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Dinner, Main Course – American/Italian

By Kelly Djalali – Serves: 2-4

Prep Time: 20 Minutes – Cooking Time: 15 Minutes – Total Time: ~35 Minutes

Lightly sweet figs with thick-cut bacon. Nutty Gruyere and buttery Fontina create a smooth backbone for the pops of pungent Blue Cheese.

Ingredients

• 1 Prepared Pizza Dough
• 1/2 cup Grated Fontina Cheese
• 4-5 Fresh Figs, sliced
• 1/4 cup Crumbled Blue Cheese
• 4-5 Strips of Thick-Cut Bacon, cooked until lightly crisp and sliced into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup Grated Gruyere Cheese
• Grated Parmesan, optional

Instructions

1

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2

On a floured pizza peel, dust the dough with flour and create a crust around the perimeter of the dough and flatten down the center.

3

Stretch it out on the backs of your hands, left hand over right hand, until the dough is roughly 12-inches around.

4

Add more flour evenly on the peel and lay the dough on the peel.

5

First add an even layer of Fontina Cheese.

6

Evenly place the fig slices on the Fontina.

7

Sprinkle Blue Cheese crumbles over figs.

8

Evenly distribute bacon pieces on the pizza and finish with the grated Gruyere.

9

Bake on a pizza steel or stone for 15 minutes until the crust is puffy and golden and the cheese is melted and bubbly.

10

Top baked pie with grated Parmesan if desired.

Calling all Cooks!

I’d love to feature some of your takes on Djalali Cooks recipes, so for the month of September, if you make any Djalali Cooks recipes, take a picture and send me an email with the picture of the dish you made.

Be sure to include any comments you have about the recipe and the process and your first name. If you’d like me to mention your town, please include that information too! Send images to kelly@djalalicooks.com.

At the beginning of October, I will compile your images and feature your dish as part of a reader favorites round-up on the blog!