Grape and Cheese Pizza

One evening, I asked Justin what he wanted for dinner. The answer? A very enlightening "something with fruit like Rasta Pasta (check out the fruit tortellini)." So, I went to my good friend, Epicurious, and came upon this fabulous recipe.

I had neither Fontina nor Gorgonzola dolce. Instead I used baby swiss and regular gorgonzola. I also used a generic sweet Italian red wine as they don't have Vin Santo here. Yum and Yum. Served with roasted artichokes, the first I'd seen in my 9 months of living here, zucchini, and local grape tomatoes with a glass of the red dolce wine.


For dough
1 (1/4-oz) package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup warm water (105-115°F)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon olive oil

For topping
1/3 cup Vin Santo
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cups red seedless grapes (9 oz), halved lengthwise
5 oz Italian Fontina, rind discarded and cheese cut into 1/4-inch dice (1 cup)
2 oz Gorgonzola dolce, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

Special equipment: a pizza stone; parchment paper

Make dough:
Stir together yeast, 1 tablespoon flour, and 1/4 cup warm water in a cup and let stand until mixture appears creamy on surface, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn't appear creamy, discard and start over with new yeast.)

Whisk salt into 1 1/4 cups flour in a large bowl, then add yeast mixture, oil, and remaining 1/2 cup warm water and stir until smooth. Stir in enough flour (1/4 to 1/2 cup) for dough to begin to pull away from side of bowl. (This pizza dough will be slightly wetter than others you may have made.)

Knead dough on a floured work surface with floured hands, reflouring when dough becomes too sticky, but using as little flour as possible, until dough is smooth, soft, and elastic, about 8 minutes. Form dough into a ball and dust generously with flour. Put dough in a medium bowl and cover bowl with plastic wrap, then let dough rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/4 hours.

Shape dough and make topping:
At least 45 minutes before baking pizza, put pizza stone on oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 500°F.

Do not punch down dough. Gently dredge dough in a bowl of flour to coat, then transfer to a parchment-lined pizza peel or baking sheet (without sides). Lightly flour parchment (around dough). Pat out dough evenly with your fingers and stretch into a 13-inch round. (Do not handle dough more than necessary. If dough is sticky, dust it lightly with flour.)

Bring Vin Santo with sugar to a boil in a small heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved, then boil, uncovered, until reduced to about 1 tablespoon, about 5 minutes. Add grapes to saucepan and stir gently to coat with syrup, then transfer to a bowl. Add cheeses and pepper to bowl, then stir to combine.