Grilled Peach Pizza with Goat Cheese & Honey

I seem to be on a streak of happy kitchen discoveries inspired by excess summer fruit.

Confronted by a fridge-full of ripe fruit and leftover dough, I decided to improvise a sweet peach pizza, a happy mashup of all my favorite things – – fresh fruit, grilling and brunch.

Peaches and goat cheese seemed like a natural combo, so all I needed was a very light glaze to bring it all together. I made a quick honey syrup with a few sprigs of thyme, and a dash of balsalmic to add a touch of tart.

A few minutes on the grill, and I had a warm, peachy masterpiece with dollops of creamy goat cheese, oozing with freshness and summer. It’s just absurdly good. I’ll be serving this for brunch – and dessert – all summer long.

Grilled Pizza with Peaches, Goat Cheese and Honey
Fresh pizza dough*
Ripe peaches, thinly sliced
1/4 water
3 T. honey
fresh thyme sprigs
2 t. balsamic vinegar
fresh goat cheese, crumbled
good olive oil, for brushing
freshly ground salt, to taste

Preheat grill on high.

Heat water until boiling, add honey and thyme. Cook down until reduced by half. Stir in balsamic vinegar and set aside.

Roll out a small handful of dough into an 8-inch pizza pie. Work on a well-floured surface, and turn the dough 90 degrees after every time you roll it to get an even circle. You want it to be fairly thin.

Lay pie on flat surface. Cover with saran wrap if rolling several out at once, and keep cool. (If they get too warm they’ll stretch and tear when you try to cook them.)

Carry pies and toppings out to grill. Brush one side of the pie lightly with olive oil and lay it, oiled side down, directly on the grill. After about a minute, rotate pie 90 degrees to make sure it’s cooking evenly. Dough will begin to puff in big bubbles, 2-3 minutes.

Slide off the grill onto a flat surface like a cutting board and flip over, reducing heat to low. Brush again lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle with goat cheese, and arrange peaches on top. Close grill top until dough crisps and cheese begins to soften, about 3 minutes.

Remove from grill and drizzle immediately with the honey-balsalmic reduction, and a few grates of coarse salt. Serve immediately.

*I buy fresh dough at Trader Joe’s but it’s easy to make as well, if you have the time.