Speck & Brie Pizza with Fig Jam

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 10

This simple pizza with a base of sweet and sticky fig jam, piled with smokey speck, creamy Brie and peppery wild arugula makes a delicious holiday appetizer.

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Speck takes the place of a more typical prosciutto in this pizza with fig jam and Brie cheese. Speck has a smokier flavor profile that works well on this homemade pizza.

When making pizza for guests I always make my dough a day in advance and store it, refrigerated overnight so I can minimize prep. I have variations of the ingredients used for topping this pizza in my kitchen at all times so it makes it easy to pull it together. Par-baking the crust of the pizza before adding the toppings leaves the crust crispy.

Speck & Brie Pizza with Fig Jam

Speck & Brie Pizza with Fig Jam

fig pizza with speck cured meat and brie cheese

Key Ingredients in This Recipe

Pizza dough – Homemade dough is easy to make using my basic pizza dough recipe here. If you want a shortcut, then instead of making homemade dough you can find pre-made dough in the refrigerated section of Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. I also recommend checking if your local pizza spot sells their dough, it’s a great way to support local!
Speck – Speck is similar to prosciutto, it’s cured ham served sliced paper thin, but speck is slightly smoked before it’s aged giving it bold flavor. If speck is unavailable, prosciutto will work as a substitute.
Brie – Brie is washed rind cow’s milk cheese; it’s a crowd-pleaser cheese. You can add it to a cheese board and its approachable. Everyone knows where they stand on it (though not all Brie is created equal). When buying your cheese for this recipe look for a double cream Brie. Triple cream will be a bit too gooey for the pizza.
Fig Jam – The sweetness of the jam contrasts with the creamy Brie, salty cured meat and peppery arugula. I love buying figs when they are in season. The flavor of ripe figs is a combination of honey with a creamy texture. I enjoy making my own fig jam, you can find my recipe here. Fig jam can be found in the jam aisle of most grocery stores or at the cheese counter.

How to Make Speck and Brie Pizza with Fig Jam

Prepare oven or grill. Prepare dough according to recipe or let rise if needed. Place pizza stone on the grill or in the oven and heat to 500ºF.
Roll out the dough. Divide the dough in half and on a lightly floured surface, working one half at a time, roll out each half of dough into about a 10-inch circle. The dough should be fairly thin.
Add to a pizza peel. Place the dough on top of the pizza peel lined with parchment paper. If you do not have a pizza stone/peel then prepare the dough on a lightly greased baking sheet.
Par bake the crust. Rub the olive oil over the pizza dough including the edges. Use a pizza peel to slide the dough with parchment paper underneath it onto the preheated pizza stone. Cook until the crust is a pale brown and bubbly, about 6 minutes.
Top the pizza and bake. Spread the jam over the dough and arrange the slices of Brie on top followed by the speck. Bake until the Brie has melted and the crust is golden brown, about an additional 6 minutes.
Finish and serve. Top with arugula then cut into equal slices. Serve immediately.

Tips and Tricks for This Recipe

My tips for pizza crust

A pizza stone is a great investment as you end up with delicious, crispy, evenly cooked pizza.
Heat the oven with the pizza stone inside the oven or grill so that it is thoroughly heated when you start cooking the pizza.
Putting the dough on the parchment paper after rolling it out allows the dough to stick to it and then you can easily slide it onto the pizza stone from the pizza peel.
Another option is to use cornmeal but this is a much messier method. Once the pizza is cooked it slides right off the parchment paper and is nice and crispy.
If you do not have a pizza stone, cook your pizza on a lightly greased baking sheet.
I like to move my pizza to a cooling rack after it comes out so the bottom remains extra crispy.

Substitutions and Swaps

Speck can be a difficult cured meat to find. I recommend swapping it with prosciutto if needed.
If you can’t locate fig jam, I recommend trying another sweet fruit jam like raspberry.

Other Recipes to Try

If you enjoy this recipe, I recommend checking out some of these:

Speck and Brie Pizza

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Serves

US Customary – Metric

Ingredients:

½ pound pizza dough, get the recipe here
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
⅓ cup fig jam
6 ounces Brie, cut into slices
4 ounces speck
Handful wild arugula

Instructions:

Prepare dough according to recipe or let rise if needed.
Place pizza stone on the grill or in the oven and heat to 500ºF.
Divide the dough in half and on a lightly floured surface, working one half at a time, roll out each half of dough into about a 10-inch circle. The dough should be fairly thin.
Place the dough on top of the pizza peel lined with parchment paper. If you do not have a pizza stone/peel then prepare the dough on a lightly greased baking sheet.
Rub the olive oil over the pizza dough including the edges. Use a pizza peel to slide the dough with parchment paper underneath it onto the preheated pizza stone. Cook until the crust is a pale brown and bubbly, about 6 minutes.
Spread the jam over the dough and arrange the slices of Brie on top followed by the speck. Bake until the Brie has melted and the crust is golden brown, about an additional 6 minutes.
Top with arugula then cut into equal slices. Serve immediately.

Speck & Brie Pizza with Fig Jam