Stinky cheese. I love that term. My idea of heaven is putting a piece of cheese in my mouth and feeling it explode in sensations of cider, fermenting pineapple, hay, mountain flowers and rotton socks (in a good way.) Yum.

Teleggio is that kinda cheese.

Teleggio comes from the Valsassina, Lecco and Lobardia regions in northern Italy, where there are plenty of cows and alpine caves that offer great cheese ripening rooms with cool, soft breezes to spread the molds that grow in the rind. This is an old cheese and dates back to the 10th century. The name is a reference to Val Telaggio in the province of Begano. This area is also famous for Gorgonzola and Grana Padana.

I’ve decided to use this herbacious cheese with sweet dried mango that I’ve re-hydrated,, and the herbacious Jamaican Flower. This flower is a hibiscus used extensively in Latin America and the Caribbean for beverages such as Agua de Flor de Jamaica, a tea made from hibiscus flower and a little sugar. The Jamaican flower is famous for its bright red color and has the taste of cranberry or rosehips. It’s this taste that will be my foil for the meltingly sharp, earthy stank of the Teleggio and the sickly sweet mango.

Please forgive the lack of pictures for this recipe. I made this pizza while at Avalanche Pizza, baking massive amounts of bread.

7 dried hibiscus flowers

20 dried cherries

3 dried mango sticks for the sauce

5 dried mango sticks for topping

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1 7-ounce dough ball from the Easy Dough Recipe (Place other dough ball in the freezer or double this recipe for two schiacciata.)

Place the flowers, two kinds of mango and cherries in three seperate bowls filled with 2 cups boiling or very hot water. Wait for 45 minutes or more until the dried items are limp and can be easily manipulated with your fingers. The mango may take longer, depending on thickness. Add the flowers, cherries, 3 mango strips, honey and balsamic vinegar to a food processor and blend on high. Add water from jamaican flower rehydration as needed, if the jame is too thick. Taste. It should  tart and flavorful. If you want it to be sweeter, add more honey but I don’t advise it, because the mango on the schiacciata is sweet also.

Form the dough ball into a football shape and place it on some parchment paper. (Note: Teleggio is one of those cheeses that will free-flow off of the crust and ruin a pizza stone or tray, so it is smart to use parchment.) Place six to eight ounces of Teleggio cheese on top. Place the four re-hydrated mango slices on top of the cheese.

Bake in the preheated oven on an upturned cookie sheet or pizza stone for 8 to 12 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the bottom is darkened and crisp.

Drizzle the jam over the schiacciata and serve this awesome pie to your favorite friends. Then ask them, “Is that your socks, or my schiacciata?”