Nectarine and Prosciutto Pizza with Basil and Honey Balsamic Reduction

So we all lose things every once in a while. Well, I tend to lose stuff in series, and I think my scatterbrainedness has reached a whole new level of epic fail this time around.

I had a few hours downtime after dropping my laptop at Apple for repair. I didn’t want to drive home and back since it was far, so I decided to shop to H-E-B, our major grocery, since they had a sale for nectarines, and I’ve had this nectarine and prosciutto pizza on my to-do summer meals list forever. Fruit, Italian meat, and balsamic honey with three types of cheese? Sounds like a winning combo!

As I got out of my car, I was wearing a work dress and realized I had no pockets. Well, I wasn’t going to stroll around the produce aisle in a white coat (filled with hospital microbes), and I was definitely not going to wear my giant red backpack. So I figured I’d carry my keys and phone wallet in my hand.

Well that turned out to be one hot mess – I was walking out of H-E-B with my groceries to my car when I realized my car keys were missing.

I (calmly) checked the cashier and retraced my steps in the entire store, and saw nothing. I went to the lost and found section and got nada. I asked the manager to make an announcement on the intercom – no luck.

My apartment keys, white coat, stethoscope, ipad, and books were all stuck in my car. Of course, my phone only had 3% battery left, and I had no charger, so my calls and texts had to be rationed. At that moment, my roommate texted me she had driven back to her parent’s home for the weekend, so I was on my own. I scribbled down on a coupon all my friends’ phone numbers to prepare for when my phone died. To make things better, I needed my car to get to work the next day – I soooo did not want to wake up at 5am to walk miles to the hospital in the dark.

B: Don’t you have a spare car key?
Chef Uy: Erm… my spare car key is actually attached to my main car key…

One and a half hours of frantic searching ensued. I upturned all the ribeye steaks, threw aside the all the yogurt tubs, tossed eggplants left and right, trying to see if I dropped my keys anywhere. I retraced the whole store about over and over.

The managers were useless and shrugged their shoulders, walking away. Only one was sympathetic, and suggested I store my paid groceries in their industrial fridge and borrow his phone to call a lock breaking company. I gave up and called; they told me I’d have to wait 30 minutes and the lock break would cost $50, which I agreed. In defeat, I also called a friend to rescue me from the grocery.

The whole time, I had managed to stay cool, but as the manager patted my shoulder and asked if there was anything he could do to help, I let myself squeeze a few tears of anger/shame/frustration/man-I’m-so-stupid for about 30 seconds.

Well, I made one last effort, and lo and behold, I found my keys in the *drumroll* sock pile – from when I tried on a pair earlier. There was no way anyone would have ever found it.

Of course my friend arrives that second as I call to say “um, never mind, I found them in the socks,” and I quickly cancelled the lock company. I grab my groceries, rush to Apple literally two minutes before closing, and arrive home in utter exhaustion. I immediately separated my spare keys, and swore I’d never lose any keys again.

So, here, I present my hard won nectarines from that grocery fiaso in my Nectarine and Prosciutto Pizza (adapted from Cooking Classy) This pizza is really delicious, but it’d be even more delicious if I didn’t have to undergo that ordeal to obtain the ingredients.

PS. Of course, I lost my apartment keys, mailbox keys, and gate clicker a mere two days later (and I wasn’t so lucky to find them this time, so I had to replace ALL of them *sadface*) Told you I lose things in waves.

Nectarine and Prosciutto Pizza with Basil and Honey Balsamic Reduction

Ingredients
1 pizza dough, homemade or store bought
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely minced
4 oz prosciutto
1 cup ricotta cheese
5 oz fresh mozzarella, diced into small cubes
1/2 asiago cheese, shredded
2 nectarines, sliced
Freshly ground black pepper
fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup honey

Directions

Preheat oven to 500 degrees, with your pan or stone inside to heat.

Meanwhile, microwave in 30 second increments balsamic vinegar and honey, stirring mixture in between, to thicken (or you can thicken in a small saucepan over the stove).

Stretch and roll out your dough on a piece of parchment paper. Drizzle olive oil and garlic evenly over top of crust, then layer prosciutto over crust. Dollop the ricotta over pizza, and sprinkle with mozzarella cubes and asiago cheese. Layer your nectarines  evenly over pizza. Season with pepper. Transfer pizza on parchment to preheated pan or stone in oven. Bake 12-15 minutes until edges are golden.

Remove from oven, sprinkle with fresh basil, and drizzle with honey balsamic reduction (store left over reduction in fridge). Cut into slices and serve warm.