Recipe: Peach, Red Onion, and Caper Pizza

Peach, Red Onion, and Caper Pizza

Sweet, tangy, and salty, this pizza is my secret weapon—the pie I pull out at parties that turns heads and leaves everyone wanting more. Peaches on pizza are a delight, and they are further elevated here by the mild bite of red onion and the briny pop of capers. Use yellow, not white, peaches and make this pie for all your summer gatherings.

MAKES ONE 12 IN [30.5 CM] PIZZA

If the pizza dough is refrigerated, remove it from the fridge 2 to 3 hours before you plan to bake. Proof the dough on the counter until it’s slightly puffy and room temperature. By the end of proofing, it should feel soft and full of gas. (See Proofing) While you wait, set up where you’ll be stretching and building the pizza (see Designing Workflow) and position a cooling rack, cutting board, and pizza wheel or rocker cutter near the oven. Ready a 9 or 10 in [23 or 25 cm] cake pan half full of white rice flour and set it aside. 

An hour before baking, position an oven rack 6 to 8 in [15 to 20 cm] from the top of the oven and set a baking steel or stone on it. Preheat the oven to 550°F [290°C] or as hot as the oven will allow. 

Sprinkle a wooden peel with a little white rice flour and set it aside. Slide a dough scraper under the dough round and flip it over into the cake pan of white rice flour. Turn it over two or three times, then transfer it to the peel, handling it gently. 

Use your fingertips to indent a ring ¼ in [6 mm] deep all the way around the rim of the dough. Flip the dough over and repeat, pressing an indent around the outer edge. Next, use the pads of your fingers to lightly press down on the inner circle of the dough, going from 12 o’clock at the top to 6 o’clock at the bottom. Flip the dough over and repeat. Return the dough to the original side up. You’ll now use gravity to stretch it into its final shape.

Slide clean, dry hands under the dough and make two fists in the center. Lift your hands and the pizza into the air parallel to your chin. Slowly move your fists in opposite directions to stretch the center of the pizza. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and carefully pull it in opposite directions again. Now arc your hands and let the dough slide down and hang off the back of your knuckles. Guide the dough in a circular motion, keeping it moving over the back of your hands and letting gravity do the final pulling. If the dough is resisting, give it a short rest on the peel and try again. 

Lay the dough back on the peel and scatter the mozzarella on top. Distribute the peach slices, red onion, and capers evenly over the pizza. Shimmy the peel a few times to make sure the pizza moves freely and can easily slide off the peel. If the dough is stuck, quickly lift it with the dough scraper and toss a little white rice flour underneath.  

Open the oven door and slide the pizza onto the steel by holding the peel at a slight angle and sliding it out from under the pizza in one fluid motion. It can help to match the edge of the peel with the far edge of the steel. Avoid shuffling the peel under the pizza.

Close the oven door and bake the pizza for 5 to 6 minutes. Open the door and check on the pizza. Chances are it will need to be rotated. Spin it 180 degrees with a metal peel or use a pair of long metal tongs to adjust the direction. Close the door and bake for an additional 4 to 5 minutes. The pizza is done when the crust is a burnished red, golden in spots, and the bubbles are slightly charred. The cheese should be melted and browned and the peach slices and red onion slightly charred.  

Slide the metal peel under the pizza and transfer it to the wire rack. Dust with the salt and drizzle with the olive oil. Let cool for 5 to 6 minutes, then move the pizza to the cutting board and cut into eight wedges with the pizza wheel or rocker cutter. Serve immediately. 

From Pizza Practice Doughs, Techniques + Toppings by Tara Jensen, © 2026. Published by Chronicle Books. Photographs © Scott Suchman.