Pizza can be messy—those toppings become unhinged and can decorate the front of a freshly laundered sundress. This makes a picnic in the country decidedly less pleasant. But maybe we are just messy. This picnic pizza bakes the toppings right into the bread! Slice and serve like little sandwiches. No mess, no dry cleaning bills.
Slice the figs into quarters.
Heat 2 tablespoons of honey (plus the optional dash of ground cinnamon) with ¼ cup of water in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Allow the honey to dissolve, and then add the figs to the mixture coating them evenly with honey and water. Remove from the heat.
Trim the long strips of prosciutto into smaller strips, about ½” long. With a sharp knife, make 1” cuts, ¾ of the depth of the dough, starting at one end of the pizza dough and working lengthwise toward the other. Continue making lines of cuts throughout the dough. Place a fig and a piece of prosciutto in each cut of the dough. Continue until all cuts are filled with fig and prosciutto.
Top the figs with dollops of ricotta cheese, drizzle the entire surface with Colavita Extra Virgin Olive Oil and sprinkle with kosher salt.
Bake the bread in an oven heated to 400 degrees F for 15 minutes.
Then reduce the heat to 375 and bake for 20 minutes longer. If the top of the bread browns too much, you can cover it with some aluminum foil.
For perfect picnic presentation, slice the pizza bread into squares and again in half, spreading the arugula pesto in the middle
Servings 4