BBQ BLT Pizza
Makes 1-12″ pizza
Pizza dough recipe from Half Baked Harvest
Ingredients:
4 slices bacon
2 cups chopped lacinto or curly kale
1/2 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
1/3 cup BBQ sauce (or more or less depending on how saucy you like your pizza)
2 vine-ripened tomatoes, seeded and chopped
4oz shredded mozzarella cheese
For the pizza dough:
1/2 cup warm water (think “hot-tub” temp – not luke-warm, but not scalding)
1-1/2 teaspoons instant dry yeast
1 Tablespoon honey
1-1/2 cups flour + more for kneading
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Directions:
- For the pizza dough: Combine water, yeast, and honey in a large glass bowl then stir to combine. Let sit for 10 minutes in a warm place (I put my bowl on a heating pad set to low heat) or until foamy. Add flour, salt, and extra virgin olive oil then stir until dough comes together in a ball. Turn dough out onto a heavily floured surface then knead for 3 minutes, adding more flour as needed to prevent sticking.
- Spray a large glass bowl with nonstick spray then add dough and cover with a towel (don’t let towel touch dough.) Place bowl in a warm spot (again, I placed mine over a heating pad set to low) then let dough rise until doubled in size, 45 minutes to 1 hour. You can cover and refrigerate the dough at this point for 1-2 days. Let come to room temperature for 30 minutes before continuing on to next step.
- When dough has 20 minutes left to rise, line a baking sheet with foil then place a cooling rack on top and spray with nonstick spray. Lay bacon slices on top of cooling rack then place into a cold oven. Set oven to preheat to 400 degrees. Bacon will cook as oven heats up. Continue to cook at 400 degrees if the bacon still needs to crisp up a bit after oven has come to temperature (I needed about 5 extra minutes.) Cool slightly then chop.
- Lightly massage kale with extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper in a bowl, then set aside.
- Spray a pizza pan or baking sheet very well with nonstick spray then spread risen dough into a 12″ circle, or into an even layer on a baking sheet. Spread BBQ sauce on top then sprinkle on massaged kale, tomatoes, chopped bacon, and cheese. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until crust and cheese are golden brown. Slice then serve.
This is one of my favorite homemade pizza concoctions to date. Salty, sweet, smokey, cheesy. SO delicious!! And I love how, when you use flavorful toppings, you really don’t need to add that much cheese. There’s only 4oz on this pizza pie – that’s, like, the amount Pizza Hut puts on one slice! Delicious but, as this BBQ BLT Pizza proves – totally not necessary. Enjoy, guys!
