Roasted Persimmons & Balsamic Grapes
Roasted Fuyu persimmons, cucumber slices, balsamic-roasted grapes, camembert, pistachios & preserved lemon
I’ll start off this recipe with a short PSA: don’t get the hachiya persimmons. Trust me, we’ve tried. If you don’t want to suffer bizarre fruity cottonmouth, you have to wait until they are insanely ripe and mushy, and if you’re like me, you are never patient enough to wait that long. Plus, they will not hold up to roasting. So just make sure you double check that you’re buying the fuyu ones, or something similar, because they are not only delicious roasted, but you can add them raw to salads or just eat them plain. Fuyu forever.
Recipe
Ingredients: 1 ball of dough flour for dusting semolina flour for pizza stone olive oil salt & pepper 1 cup red grapes 1 sprig rosemary, broken into a few pieces 2 ripe fuyu persimmons, sliced about ½-inch thick 1 cucumber, sliced thinly on a mandoline balsamic vinegar 1 pinch dried oregano 1 hunk camembert, sliced as thinly as you can while still keeping it intact handful of pistachios, lightly roasted ¼ cup preserved lemon, finely chopped
Directions: Preheat your oven to 425° F. Toss your grapes in a bowl with some olive oil, salt & pepper—you can add a dash of balsamic here if you like, but you’ll be letting them macerate in it later, so don’t go overboard. Spread them out on a baking tray and top with the rosemary sprigs. On a separate baking sheet lined with parchment paper, add the persimmons in an even layer and drizzle with olive oil, salt & pepper.
Bake the grapes for about 15-20 minutes, then lower the heat to 400° F and add the persimmons, roasting everything for another 10 minutes, until the grapes are crushed easily with a fork and the persimmons and starting to brown on top. When they’re finished, take them out and increase the oven temperature to 550° F, or as hot as it will go.
Meanwhile, prepare your balsamic dressing by whisking together an equal ratio of balsamic vinegar and olive oil (about 2-4 tablespoons each, or enough to cover all of your grapes), plus salt & pepper to taste and a pinch or two of dried oregano. When the grapes are finished, add them to the bowl and toss to coat completely. Let them soak in the mixture until you’re ready to use them, at least 10 minutes.
When your oven is hot, prepare your dough using the instructions here. Once you’ve baked it for a minute, brush it lightly with olive oil and add an even layer of camembert slices. You don’t need to cover the pizza completely, just enough that every bite can get a bit of the cheese in it (it’ll probably be close to 10 or so slices total).
Next, add the persimmons, pistachios, preserved lemon & grapes, drizzling whatever little is left of the balsamic dressing on top of everything. Bake until the cheese is super gooey and the crust is a nice golden brown. Take it out and top it with the cucumber slices (folding them in half adds a little extra visual texture, but you do you), then slice it up and enjoy!