Since the Oregon Berry Festival that I recapped a bit ago, I’ve had the idea of creating a Blackberry Pizza. I was inspired by the savory combinations of blackberry from the Gala Dinner I attended. I thought that instead of a sweet dessert pizza, I was going to create a savory version.

Other dessert pizzas often use a cookie as the base, such as a sugar cookie or oatmeal cookie. But I knew that having a regular pizza dough could work, given that I had adored Pulehu Pizza’s strawberry pizza before. I still have a huge crush on that seasonal special pizza, which had a light creamy base instead of the sweeter cream cheese base or whipped topping base. I know berries and creme fraiche are a classic combination, and so that with a pizza dough base was my start.

Next, instead of going with a sweet cream, I opted to lean into the savory per my Gala Dinner inspiration. From creating my Blackberry Grilled Cheese recipe earlier, I knew that basil is a great pairing with blackberry. It is only a short jump from fresh basil to my use of pesto.

Finally, for an additional layer of flavor, I wanted some heat since many of my favorite cocktails include a combination of berries and spicy vodka or tequila. Enter the Marshall’s Haute Sauce special edition Hatch Sesame Balsamic.

I didn’t make the pizza dough or pesto – I already had frozen Kirkland Basil Pesto (which uses Genovese basil, extra virgin olive oil, Pecorino Romano, and pine nuts) that I could utilize. I bought pre-made dough and I wanted each one to be personal pizza sized.. The only slight time consuming part (which is really more of a wait then prep steps) was making homemade creme fraiche.

To make your own creme fraiche, you just needs 1 cup of heavy whipping cream to every 3 tablespoons of buttermilk. You stir it up and let it sit on your kitchen counter, covered and in a glass container so it doesn’t absorb plastic taste, for 8 hours minimum until it’s thick. It should be a little reminiscent of sour cream in consistency, but the flavor will be a light tangyness compared to sour cream. You then refrigerate your creme fraiche (keep it in glass!), and it can last up to 10 days. The more tablespoons of buttermilk the thicker it is.

Ingredients:

• 4 personal sized pizzas (about 6 inches diameter)
• 1 pint of Oregon blackberries. If blackberries are not in season, I suggest going into the freezer section to get the local frozen blackberries. For Oregon frozen berries, while they are still fresh and perfectly ripe they are fresh frozen within mere hours of being picked. That means from when they were picked to frozen is most likely even a shorter period of time than imported berries in the off season. Plus, Oregon blackberries taste better because of the great Northwest climate here.
• 1/2 cup of creme fraiche
• 4 tablespoons of pesto
• 4 teaspoons of hot sauce (we used Hatch Sesame Balsamic from Mashall’s Haute Sauce, but you could also mix hot sauce with a touch of balsamic if you have a hot sauce that doesn’t already have that acidic note

Directions:

1. If your personal sized pizzas are still in dough form, you are going to want to pre-cook it (brush a little olive oil on the dough before putting it in the oven) until it the the dough is cooked. If the pizzas are pre-cooked and just need to be heated, you can skip this step.
2. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. For each personal pizza, spread about 2 tablespoons of the creme fraiche. Next, add in 1 tablespoon of pesto and swirl the pesto around in the creme fraiche to create a bit of a swirl pattern throughout. I personally liked this look rather then mixing the creme fraiche and pesto directly. Top with the blackberries.
   
3. Add the Blackberry pizza to the oven and turn off the oven. Let the pizza warm for 5-7 minutes, then remove. Add about a teaspoon of your choice of hot sauce in various dots throughout.
   
4. Serve and enjoy!

I and F both really liked how this was a combination of the slightly creamy with hint of tang from the creme fraiche, then the saltiness with bit of pungency from garlic thanks to the pesto, and a little heat and balsalmic acid from the Hatch Sesame Balsamic sauce. YUM!

If you haven’t tried any of Marshall’s Haute Sauce, run to the website and also visit them at the Farmer’s Market. I buy the standard sauces at the store (I think it helps reinforce for the store that these are good products that will sell of their shelf to encourage them to continue ordering), and my favorite of their regular sauces are the Habanero Carrot Curry.

If you visit them at the Farmer’s Market though you can get access to their seasonal specials that they do, varying from his Hatch Sesame Balsamic during the summer to Gin Roasted Pepper to one off collaborations like their Honey Tincture with Serrano Ginger Lemongrass with Bee Local (follow Spicy Marshall on Instagram to hear what the special might be).

What’s your favorite Marshall’s Haute Sauce? What do you think of a fruit pizza, have you  had fruit pizza before?