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    Home » Recipes » Italian Recipes

    Prosciutto and Caramelized Pear Pizza with Balsamic Glaze

    Published: Apr 17, 2023 by Samantha Ferraro · This post may contain affiliate links · 1 Comment

    Jump to Recipe

    If you are looking for a fun play on pizza with sweet and salty notes, you will love this prosciutto and pear pizza. The pears ever so lightly caramelize just enough for their sugars to release, which pairs deliciously alongside sautéed shallots, salty prosciutto and a drizzle of balsamic glaze.

    Caramelized pear and prosciutto pizza with mozzarella and drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar.
    Jump to:
    • 🍐 Why You'll Love This Recipe
    • 📋 Ingredients
    • 🍋 Substitutions and Variations
    • ⏲️ Instructions
    • 📍 Recipe Tips
    • Recipe FAQs
    • More Pizza Recipes to Try
    • Caramelized Pear and Prosciutto Pizza

    One of my favorite flavor combinations is layering sweet fruit with salty and savory ingredients. Usually, I like adding fresh fruit to salads, such as arugula pear salad, which offers a delicious refreshing bite or roasting pears and carrots for a sweet and savory side dish.

    This prosciutto and pear pizza features that perfect balance of sweet and savory flavors! The pizza is layered with salty prosciutto, sweet caramelized pears and caramelized shallots, all drizzled with a tangy balsamic glaze.

    And for a a truly impressive meal, pair the pizza with a fresh burrata caprese salad.

    🍐 Why You'll Love This Recipe

    • Sweet and Savory Flavors! The combination of sweet caramelized pears with salty prosciutto is fantastic!
    • Savory spin on sweet fruit! I love adding fruit to traditionally savory recipes such as honey Dijon roast chicken with pears.

    📋 Ingredients

    Ingredients for pear and prosciutto pizza, including parmesan cheese.
    • Pizza Dough: When working with raw pizza dough, keep it at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before rolling the dough out.
    • Shallot: Shallots cook faster and are more mild than standard onions. If shallots aren't available, use thinly sliced red onion.
    • Pears: Bosc pears are crisp and sweet and hold up well to the cooking.
    • Mozzarella Cheese: A few slices of fresh mozzarella are used for this pear pizza to keep it light and not too heavy. Another favorite is buffalo milk mozzarella which has great flavor and is easily digestible for most people.
    • Parmesan Cheese: This is a hard aged Italian cheese that gives the pizza (or anything else you want to top it with) great savory and nutty flavor. I like using a microplane to freshly grate the parmesan right on top.
    • Prosciutto: This Italian dry cured ham is rich and salty and sliced very thin. You can often find prosciutto in several Italian recipes such as beef braciole or crisped up on top of roasted tomato soup.
    • Aged Balsamic: Use a balsamic glaze or a good quality aged balsamic, which will be thicker, sweeter and have more depth of flavor.

    See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

    🍋 Substitutions and Variations

    • Instead of cow milk cheese, substitute buffalo milk mozzarella and substitute pecorino cheese, instead of parmesan cheese.
    • If bosc pear isn't available, look for green anjour pear, which has a nice sweetness and will caramelize easily.
    • Add other cheeses! Make a pear and blue cheese pizza and add crumbles of gorgonzola cheese.
    • Instead of sliced pears, substitute with fresh figs!

    ⏲️ Instructions

    Cook the sliced pears in a skillet until edges are caramelized.

    Step 1: Cook the sliced pears until lightly caramelized on both sides.

    Stretch out the pizza on a lightly floured surface into an even 10 inch circle.

    Step 2: Roll out the pizza dough on a lightly floured surface to a 9 to 10 inch circle.

    Add slices of fresh mozzarella and slices of prosciutto onto the pizza.

    Step 3: Brush the pizza dough with olive oil and top with fresh mozzarella and prosciutto.

    Top the pear and prosciutto pizza with caramelized shallots.

    Step 4: Layer the caramelized pears and caramelized shallots around the pizza. Top with grated parmesan cheese.

    Transfer the pear pizza onto a hot pizza stone in a pre-heated oven.

    Step 4: Transfer the pizza into a preheated oven onto a hot pizza stone and cook for 7-9 minutes until the crust is golden brown.

    Pear and prosciutto pizza with mozzarella, aged balsamic, caramelized shallots and fresh basil.

    Step 5: Garnish the pizza with a drizzle of aged balsamic and fresh basil.

    Caramelized pear and prosciutto pizza topped with fresh basil.

    📍 Recipe Tips

    • For the prefect golden pizza crust, pre-heat the oven to 550 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.
    • If you don't have a pizza stone, use a baking sheet! Turn the baking sheet upside down onto its flat side and pre-heat in the oven.
    • If the pizza dough springs back as you roll it, don't force it! Let the dough rest at room temperature for another 10-15 minutes and it will stretch easier.

    Recipe FAQs

    What is the best temperature to cook pizza at?

    The ideal temperature for a perfect pizza is anywhere from 550 to 700 degrees Fahrenheit. If the temperature is too hot, it can burn and if it's too low, the pizza won't achieve that crisp golden crust.

    Do you need to fully cook prosciutto?

    Prosciutto is a cured sliced ham and doe snot need to be fully cooked. You can eat it right out of the package or crisp up the prosciutto for a salty and crisp bite.

    How long do you bake pizza at 500 degrees Fahrenheit?

    Bake the pizza in a preheated oven for 6-9 minutes. The hotter the oven, the quicker the pizza will cook.

    More Pizza Recipes to Try

    • Bolognese Pizza
    • Ratatouille Pizza
    • Four cheese pizza with Italian sausage, roasted peppers and grated Parmesan.
      Four Cheese Pizza with Sausage and Peppers
    • Spring Pizza with Pesto, Asparagus and Fresh Lemon Zest

    Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.

    Caramelized Pear and Prosciutto Pizza

    Samantha Ferraro

    LittleFerraroKitchen.com

    If you are looking for a fun play on pizza with sweet and salty notes, you will love this pear prosciutto pizza! With sautéed shallots, mozzarella and finished with a sweet balsamic glaze.
    5 from 2 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 30 minutes mins
    Cook Time 15 minutes mins
    Total Time 45 minutes mins
    Course Dinner, Main
    Cuisine American, Italian
    Servings 4 servings
    Calories 764 kcal

    Equipment

    • Pizza Stone
    • Pizza Cutter
    • Pizza Peel

    Ingredients
     
     

    Caramelized Shallots

    • 2 tablespoons Olive oil
    • 1 shallot sliced thin

    Pear Pizza

    • 1 pound pizza dough cut in half and at room temperature
    • Flour for dusting
    • 4 tablespoons olive oil for pears and pizza
    • 2 bosc pears sliced into ¼ inch slices
    • 8 ounces mozzarella cheese roughly torn
    • ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese + more for garnish
    • 4-6 slices of prosciutto
    • Aged balsamic for garnish
    • Basil leaves for garnish

    Instructions
     

    • Pre-heat the oven to 550 degrees Fahrenheit.
    • While the oven is preheating, caramelize the shallots. Bring a medium sized skillet to medium heat and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
    • Add the sliced shallots and sauté until the shallots soften and edges slightly caramelize, about 5-8 minutes. Once the shallots change color and darken, remove them and set aside.
    • Wipe the same skillet clean and drizzle a bit more olive oil. Add the sliced pears and cook until the pears just deepen in color and smell sweet, for about 4-6 minutes. Then turn over and caramelize the other side for another 3-4 minutes. Once done, remove and set aside.
    • Lightly dust a clean surface with flour and divide the pizza dough in half.
    • Roll each dough ball into a 9–10-inch circle and drizzle the center of the dough with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil.
    • Top both pizzas with roughly torn mozzarella and grated parmesan cheese. Gently tear large slices of prosciutto and place the slices around the pizza, along with the slices of caramelized pears.
    • Finish with a few dollops of the caramelized shallots around the pizza and drizzle with olive oil.
    • Transfer the pizza to the hot oven on either a pizza stone or baking sheet and bake until the crust is golden brown and cheese melts, about 7-10 minutes.
    • Once done, garnish drizzled the pizzas with aged balsamic and fresh basil leaves.

    Video

    Notes

      • For the prefect golden pizza crust, pre-heat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.
      • If you don't have a pizza stone, use a baking sheet! Turn the baking sheet upside down onto its flat side and pre-heat in the oven.
      • If the pizza dough springs back as you roll it, don't force it! Let the dough rest at room temperature for another 10-15 minutes and it will stretch easier.
      • Yields 2 medium sized pizzas

    Nutrition

    Calories: 764kcalCarbohydrates: 71gProtein: 27gFat: 43gSaturated Fat: 14gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 44mgSodium: 1521mgPotassium: 152mgFiber: 5gSugar: 16gVitamin A: 131IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 199mgIron: 4mg
    Did you make this recipe?Let us know by leaving a comment and 5 star rating!

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    Comments

    1. Tom says

      April 17, 2023 at 12:38 pm

      5 stars
      WOW, it's a pear pizza, definitely not a traditional Pizza. Pear and a great Balsamic on anything is wonderful but Chef Samantha puts it on a perfectly done pizza dough, Wonderful! The Bolognese pizza on this site is traditional if that's what you want but really, you must try this great twist on a pizza.

      Reply

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