Serves 10 to 12
This stars and stripes pizza is an inspiration and a reminder of how great our country is. This showpiece dessert is perfect for a picnic or a patriotic holiday like the Fourth of July—and it’s easy to make. Using pizza dough or puff pastry sheets is a novel way to go.
¼ cup cornmeal
1 pound mascarpone cheese
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
All-purpose flour, for dusting
1 recipe Paul’s Pizza Dough (here) or 1 sheet frozen puff pastry
1 pint raspberries or strawberries
1 pint blueberries
Preheat the oven to 500°F. Scatter the cornmeal on a rimmed baking sheet to prevent sticking.
Beat together the mascarpone and confectioners’ sugar by hand until smooth, then refrigerate until ready to top the pizza.
Dust a work surface well with flour.
If using pizza dough, use a rolling pin and your hands to form the pizza dough into a large rectangle. Transfer the pizza to the prepared baking sheet and bake until the pizza dough is golden, about 15 minutes. Allow the crust to cool completely before adding the toppings.
If using frozen puff pastry, defrost and bake according to the package directions. Cool and cut the pastry in half. You will now have two halves to fill if you want to double the recipe; otherwise, reserve the remaining half for another use.
While the crust is cooling, slice the strawberries lengthwise for the flag’s stripes (if using raspberries, they can go on the crust whole).
Spread the mascarpone mixture all over the cooled dough.
Arrange the blueberries in a rectangle in the left corner to represent our fifty states, leaving space between the blueberries so that the mascarpone shows through.
Line up the strawberries or raspberries in stripes separated by a mascarpone stripe to create the flag. This is a wonderful dessert to make with the kids. They love creating the flag!
If not serving immediately, refrigerate the “flag” so the mascarpone does not melt.