Pepperoni pizza—supreme with sausage, beef, pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, and peppers— these are classic toppings on American pizza oven pizza dough, but at the California Milk Advisory Board pizza competition, Peter Reinhart introduced a new classic combination that evokes the spirit of California wine country in pizza: Four Cheese Balsamic Fig Tarte Flambé Pizza. This pizza was a finalist in the 2023 Real California Pizza Contest and one of four contenders in the “REAL Californian” category.
From Pizza Expert Peter Reinhart
We teamed up with multi-award-winning cookbook author Peter Reinhart, who is always on a pizza quest to create a pizza that showcased figs as an indispensable ingredient for pizzerias.
Peter Reinhart teaches baking at Johnson & Wales University. He co-founded the legendary Brother Juniper’s Bakery in Santa Rosa, CA and authored 13 cookbooks, such as the modern classic Bread Baker’s Apprentice, named cookbook of the year in 2003 by both the James Beard Foundation and
International Association of Culinary Professionals. His most recent cookbooks include Pizza Quest and Perfect Pan Pizza.
“Fresh figs have, for a long time, been used on pizzas, but the problem is they are only available during their short growing season. Dried figs, however, are available year round but, because of their intense concentration of flavor, are more challenging to integrate with the other ingredients. By mixing dried
fig slurry (or puree) with balsamic vinegar, a wonderfully balanced, spreadable jam is achieved,” said Peter Reinhart. “When added to a classic Alsatian-style Tarte Flambé Pizza—with its rich white cheese sauce (using all California cheeses in this version), the figs bring a California Wine Country accent to a
classic and beloved dish. And the fig jam can also be used on many other pizzas and dishes, limited only by your imagination.”
On August 1 – 2, in Napa, he competed with his Four Cheese Balsamic Fig Tart Flambe in a Real Californian Pizza live bake-off.
California Figs Make Unforgettable Pizza
In the Four Cheese Balsamic Fig Tarte Flambé, he’s using Blue Ribbon Fig Slurry, California Mission Figs and Fig Concentrate blended with balsamic vinegar into a texture similar to preserves that is semi-pourable and can be easily spooned or spread with a spatula.
It’s one of several ready-to-use Blue Ribbon Fig Ingredients perfect for topping any type of pizza dough, including pizza oven pizza dough or wood fired pizza applications. You could say we are on a mission to partner with pizzerias in bringing fig pizza to their people.
Figs and Fig Ingredients for Pizza Pros
Professional chefs faced off at the California Milk Advisory Board pizza competition in three categories: Cal-Mex, REAL Californian, and Plant-Forward. Figs featured in two categories and two pizzas—in addition to the Tart Flambé from Peter Reinhart, pizzaiolo Matt Hutchinson of Pizaro’s Pizza Napoletana used sliced dried figs on his pizza entry too.
If you’ve never tried figs on pizza, now is the time. We think you will flip for the figgy twist on this award-finalist pizza of Tarte Flambé. Find more ideas for fig pizza, or contact us for samples for your pizzeria.