BLT Pizza

When I saw this recipe on Joelen’s site, I thought the hubs would love it.

He’d mentioned he was hungry for BLT’s, so I asked if we could do this instead — and he was up for it.

Two things: the dough AND the pizza were fantastic, but for different reasons.

The dough was fantastic because it had really good flavor and it only took me 30 minutes from start to pizza. My traditional pizza dough recipes takes 2 hours.

This means more pizza-on-the-fly in our house. BONUS!

The pizza was fantastic because of the two layers of bacony flavor. And I really think the colby jack at the end was essential. Gave it just the right amount of flavor.

I did buck the system a bit, though. I was weirded out by Joelen’s instructions to put the lettuce on the pizza and then bake it. I have weird textural issues with hot lettuce. Gross. 🙂

So I made the pizza sans lettuce (I did include the tomatoes in the cooking though) and then topped the pizza with shredded lettuce and thinly sliced avocado before eating.

Unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures of it with the cold toppings, though! Oops!

Making it my way, instead of Joelen’s, makes for a much messier pizza…but it was worth it to have that nice cold lettuce/avocado (in my opinion!)

BLT Pizza

(Joelen’s Culinary Adventures)

Crust:
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 package quick-rising yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2-2/3 cup hot water (120-130°F)
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon cornmeal

Toppings:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 whole romaine heart, shredded
4 oz sliced canadian bacon, cut into quarters
1 plum tomato, sliced
1/4 cup crumbled or chopped, crisp cooked bacon
1/4 cup shredded colby jack cheese
ranch dressing for dipping

Directions

– Combine flour, yeast, salt and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer to mix fitted with a dough hook.

– Combine hot water and oil in a measuring cup. With the stand mixer is running, gradually pour in enough of the hot liquid until the mixture forms a sticky ball. The dough should be quite soft. If it seems dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons warm water; if too sticky, add 1 to 2 tablespoons flour. Continue mixing until the dough forms a ball, then process for 1 minute to knead.

– Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Coat a sheet of plastic wrap with cooking spray and place it, sprayed-side down, over the dough. Let the dough rest for 10 to 20 minutes.

– Preheat oven to 500°F or highest setting.

– Sprinkle the cornmeal on the baking sheet (I used my 12 inch cast iron skillet) before placing the pizza dough on the sheet. Press the dough to create the crust and place on prepared baking sheet. Brush the top of the crust with olive oil.

– Top the pizza with 1/2 cup of mozzarella, followed by the shredded lettuce. Place the Canadian bacon on top of lettuce layer and top with slices of tomato. Sprinkle the other 1/2 cup of mozzarella over the tomatoes. Bake the pizza in the preheated oven for 10-14 minutes, or until the bottom of the pizza is crisp and golden. Remove the pizza from the oven and top with the crumbled or chopped cooked bacon and return to the oven to bake for another minute to heat up.

– Just before serving, sprinkle the colby jack cheese and serve with ranch dressing if desired.