Breakfast for Dinner Pizza

At our house, we do pizza night once a week, every week.  We also do Breakfast for Dinner night once a week, pretty much every week, all year long.  So why not combine the two???  No reason!  This has been on my “to do” list for months.  Why I waited so long to make this I have no idea.

I was going to call this “Breakfast Pizza” and then thought, “Well, that doesn’t tell you anything.  I mean, who DOESN’T eat pizza for breakfast?”  I certainly ate it again for breakfast this morning.  So that name got scrapped.

And then I thought, “Let’s keep it simple and call it Bacon n Egg Pizza.”  But I know you.  Just hearing the words “egg” and “pizza” in the same sentence is gonna skeeve some of you out.  (My husband would be first in that line.)  Pictures are much better than words on this one wouldn’t you agree?

Because om nom nom this is soul-satisfying good food.  Bacon and eggs, garlic-infused olive oil, scallions, mozzarella, provolone, and freshly grated Parmesan???  Yes, please.

OH!  And I almost forgot to tell you!  I’ve been experimenting with GF pizza dough recipes at my husband’s request.  The recipe I have posted on here is lightly adapted from Gluten Free Girl’s Cookbook, “Gluten Free Girl and the Chef“.  It’s intended to be a thin crust pizza dough.  Actually, it was originally written as a recipe for crackers.  And it’s what we’ve been using for the past couple years for my husband’s pizzas.  You know… the ones I never actually photograph because he never wants anything besides cheese and pep.

So anyway, he wanted me to try out some new formulas that would rise better – that would make for a better thick pizza crust.  Something more similar to what you’d get at Papa John’s or something.  The recipe I’ve been using – it rolls out like  a dream.  It feels like real dough under your fingers.  Which is great for me – but much more important than the tactile pleasure of working with the dough is whether or not it’s pleasing to the person you’re serving it to.  And in this case it’s my husband and it’s not anymore.

I’m close.  I’m really close to giving you something I don’t feel like I need to keep modifying.   Soon, very soon, I’ll give you the new recipe.  I just need to go through the process a couple more times, make sure I’m not giving you the directions to make what was a happy fluke.

So let’s get going on our pizza already!  You’ll want to put your pizza stone/pan in the oven now and preheat it to 450 degrees.  If using a non-stick pan, put it in upside down.  I still don’t know why they tell you to do that.

First, cut six strips of bacon into one inch long strips and fry over medium heat until crisp.  Cutting the bacon up first makes cooking it in a pan so much easier.  Put your crispy bacon pieces on a paper towel lined plate to drain and set them aside.

Also, you’ll need dough.  You can make it from scratch like I do (GF and regular recipes here), or you can get a ball of dough from the prepared foods section of your grocery store.  Or use a pre-made crust.  Or use a mix.  Whatever!  The point is you need something to put your toppings on.

If you’re making dough from scratch, plan on starting it 2 hours before you plan to eat to allow time for the dough to rise.  You can also make the dough the night before, let it rise for an hour or so, punch it down, rub it with oil, cover it loosely, and store it in the fridge until an hour before you’re ready to use it.

Next, if you don’t already have garlic oil sitting in your fridge you’ll need to make some.  It’s quick, I promise.  This is one of my new fridge staples I love it so much.  To make garlic oil, simply warm 1/2 cup olive oil, 4 sliced cloves of garlic, and 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes over low heat until bubbling.  Let oil simmer for 10 minutes, keeping watch over it to make sure the garlic doesn’t burn.  Allow to cool.

On a sheet of parchment paper, roll/pat out your dough into a 12″ circle.  Take some of your garlic oil (about 3 tablespoons should do), and spread that all over, leaving a rim around the edge.

Next, top your pizza with 8 oz shredded pizza cheese.  We get ours in tubs in the prepared foods section of our grocery store.  It’s just a mixture of mozzarella and provolone.  You could do all mozzarella or all provolone if you wanted to.  Or you could  throw in some cheddar or Monterrey Jack.  Or some pepper jack…oh the possibilities!  Whatever good melting cheeses you’ve got on hand and you like with your eggs would work here!

Just please no American.  Because that would just be wrong.

On top of that we’re going to add our bacon and one thinly sliced scallion.  Now slide your pizza carefully onto your hot stone (parchment paper and all), and set the timer for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes we’re going to slide out the oven rack and carefully crack a few eggs on top of our pizza.  I was able to get four on mine without fearing raw eggs were going to slide off onto the pizza below.  Looking at this shot now I’m thinking I might have gotten one more on there…maybe next time.  Anyway, if you want your eggs to come out over-easy, set the timer for another 8 minutes.  I erred on the side of caution and left mine in for 9 and my eggs came out over-medium.  For a first time that was okay.  Runny whites would have left me running for the hillsides.

Lastly, we’re going to grab a microplane zester and a wedge of good parmesan.  Or you could just sprinkle some out of the big ol’ Kraft container you have in your fridge.  But seriously guys?  This is soooo much better.

And we’re gonna chop up a small handful of fresh parsley.  Because we have it on hand.  And we’ve got a few minutes before the pizza’s out.  And it’s green and pretty and counts as a vegetable.  And we’re worth it baby.

Remove the pizza from the oven, sprinkle on the parsley, grate on the Parmesan, and grind a little black pepper over the top (which I did promptly after taking this picture :p)  And eat. (And eat and eat and eat.)

Enjoy!

Breakfast for Dinner Pizza

1 lb ball Pizza Dough (GF or regular)

3 Tbsp Garlic Oil (see instructions below)

8 oz shredded pizza cheese (mozzarella/provolone)

6 slices bacon, pre-cut into 1″ pieces

1 scallion, thinly sliced

1 oz freshly grated parmesan

1 Tbsp freshly chopped parsley

Freshly ground black pepper

To make Garlic Oil:

In a small saucepan, heat 1/2 cup olive oil, 4 cloves of sliced garlic, and 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes over low heat until boiling.  Allow to simmer for 10 minutes.  Let cool.   Set aside until ready to use.  Refrigerate any leftover oil for later use.

Instructions:

Place a pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven and preheat oven to 450 degrees.  If using a non-stick pizza pan do the same thing but put it in upside down.  I’m still not sure why we do this.

Fry bacon in a large pan over medium heat until crispy.  Remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain.

On a sheet of parchment paper stretch or roll out your pizza dough to about 1/4″ thickness, about 12″ across.   Spread with 3 Tbsp of the cooled garlic oil, the pizza cheese, bacon, and scallions.  Slide onto hot pizza stone (or non-stick pan turned right side up), and bake for 5 minutes.

Slide oven rack out and crack 3-4 (or more if you can fit them) eggs onto pizza, being careful not to break the yolks.  Try to do this quickly so the oven doesn’t lose too much heat.  Bake another 8 minutes for over-easy eggs.  9 minutes for over-medium.  Any longer than that and you’ve got hard boiled eggs.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with parsley, grated parmesan, and freshly ground black pepper.

Serves 4.

Balsamic Steak Gorgonzola Pizza

Okay, I’ll be the first to admit this is one odd looking pizza.  Bear with me.

I’m starting to think if I ever get myself published in the way way distant future, it will be writing a pizza cookbook.  Just pizzas.  I have soooo many ideas.  Every week I am inspired with new ideas for specialty pizzas.  Not that probably all of them haven’t been done somewhere before…we are a pizza loving country after all.  But still…

This week’s pizza was inspired by my most favorite Olive Garden dish of all time – The Steak Gorgonzola Alfredo.  It’s fettuccine with Gorgonzola-laced Alfredo sauce, medium rare steak medallions, sun dried tomatoes, more crumbled Gorgonzola, finished with a drizzle of Balsamic Glaze.

(Insert Homer Simpson yummy food noise.  Haaaaauuuuuuuggghhh.)

We used to go to the Olive Garden fairly regularly years ago.  You know, before we had kids.  They actually have gluten free pasta options now so yay for the OG!  We would totally go more often if we ever went out to eat at all.  I’ve always loved it there… the breadsticks, the soups, the salad.  I’m not actually a huge pasta fan but there’s something there for everyone .

So anyway, if you know me you know I rarely order the same entree twice.  There is just so much gustatory wonderfulness to experience out there.  I am always  eager to try something new…except when it comes to the Olive Garden and this dish.  I have probably ordered it half a dozen times.  It’s just that good.

So why not make it into a pizza?  No reason – let’s go!

Let’s start out by rolling out our prepared dough on a sheet of parchment paper.  You can make it from scratch.  Or you can do it this way if you’re doing this GF.  Or you can pick up a ball of dough from the deli.  S’all good.

Onto our dough we are going to add this stuff – some of which I realize is not recognizable to anyone but me.  We’ve got half a sirloin steak, cooked medium rare (you do yours to your liking of course), garlic oil, Balsamic Glaze, some thinly sliced red onion, a wedge of Gorgonzola, a tub of pizza cheese, and sun-dried tomatoes.  (You can totally disregard that pumpkin which will probably be in the background of all my shots for the next two months.)

You still have garlic oil left over from the last time we made it, right???  I didn’t either.  But I was dying to make more so I did.  Just put 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes, and 4 sliced cloves of garlic over low heat until it’s bubbling.  Leave it bubbling for 10 minutes and set it aside to cool.

We’re gonna take about a quarter cup of that luxurious garlic oil and spread it all over our rolled/patted/stretched out dough.  Why not just use Alfredo sauce for the base?  Eh, because I didn’t want to.  Is that a good enough reason?

Next we’re gonna throw on some sun-dried tomatoes.  We’re putting them underneath everything else so as not to dry them out further in the oven.  Some of these I bought at the store.  Some I made myself from the 10 billion tomatoes I had in my garden over the summer.  Mine were way better.  Just sayin’.

On top of that we’re going to add 6 oz pizza cheese and the red onions.  You can use the whole 8 oz tub if you want.  I’m just a little neurotic about the “no more than 8 total ounces of cheese on my pizza” thing.  Now let’s slide our pizza onto a hot pizza stone/pan in our 450 degree pre-heated oven.

While the pizza is baking we’re going to slice our steak up as thinly as we can.  Just LOOK at that beautiful medium-rare goodness.  If we threw that in a super hot oven for 12 minutes our steak would turn into leather.  So we’re going to throw it on at the end.

Here is our pizza straight out of the oven!  But wait,  don’t turn off your oven just yet!  Now we’re gonna throw on the steak and the Gorgonzola.

Back into the oven for another 60 seconds.  No longer!  We just want our steak warmed, not further cooked.  Drizzle with the balsamic glaze to finish.  (I made my own glaze by reducing a whole bottle of balsamic vinegar on the stove down to half a cup.  You can also just buy a bottle of glaze at the store.  That’s what I’ve done for years.)

So many wonderful elements in this pizza.  The garlic and the balsamic, the Gorgonzola and the dried tomatoes.  And the STEAK.  Nom nom nom.  This pizza is a flavor powerhouse.

Enjoy!

Balsamic Steak Gorgonzola Pizza

1 lb ball prepared pizza dough (GF recipe here)

8 oz Sirlion Steak, cooked to your preferred doneness and sliced thinly

6 oz shredded pizza cheese (mozzarella/provolone)

1/3 cup red onion, thinly sliced

1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes

2 oz Gorgonzola Cheese, crumbled

1 Tbsp Balsamic Glaze

Garlic Oil

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

Instructions:

Prepare your pizza dough as directed (bringing to room temp first if it was in the fridge).

Make your garlic oil.  In a small saucepan, heat olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes over low heat until boiling.  Allow to simmer for 10 minutes.  Set aside until ready to use.

Place a pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven and preheat oven to 450 degrees.  If using a non-stick pizza pan do the same thing but put it in upside down.  I don’t know why exactly but I’ve read that advice a million times.

On a sheet of parchment paper stretch or roll out your pizza dough to about 1/4″ thickness.  (Roughly the diameter of a large commercially baked pizza, about 12-14 inches across.)  If you’re using gluten free pizza dough you may want to go a little thicker as it does not rise nearly as much in the oven as a wheat-based dough will.

Spread garlic oil on dough, leaving a rim for the crust.

Top with pizza cheese, onions, and sun-dried tomatoes.

Carefully slide pizza onto your hot pizza stone, parchment paper and all (or onto your non-stick pan making sure you turn it right side up first).  Bake 12 minutes.

Remove pizza from oven and top with steak and Gorgonzola.  Put back in oven for 1 minute.

Drizzle with Balsamic glaze and serve.

Serves 8.

White Pizza

Okay, so you’re probably wondering by now, “Do these people eat anything besides pizza???  Good lord.”

Well yes, yes we do.  Six out of seven nights a week we eat something other than pizza.  I just happen to LOVE pizza.  I also happen to LOVE creating specialty pizzas.  Because HELLO – if you want a specialty pizza at a restaurant they charge like twice as much for it so why not make it the way you like it at home?  There is pretty much no limit to what you can put on a pizza crust.  This means every time you make it it’s like embarking on a great creative endeavor.

The only guideline I try to stick to when choosing toppings is keeping the cheese limited to 8 ounces.  I know we all LOVE lots of gooey cheese on our pizza.  And as you can see from the photo above we’re not lacking in the cheese department.  I just know how easy it is to load up the pizza with a mile-high pile of cheese – and super boost the calorie count of each piece.  That and I have a tendency to eat half the pizza in a sitting regardless of how much cheese it’s boasting  so it’s in my own best interest to be prudent before it comes out of the oven.

This pizza comes together very quickly.  If you buy a ball of dough at the deli, making a pizza is not much more difficult than making a sandwich.  If you’re making your dough from scratch you’ll want to start a couple hours before you plan to eat – OR you can make it the night before, wrap it up in plastic wrap, and put it in the fridge.  Just take it out maybe a half hour before you plan to use it so it has time to come to room temp.  If it’s still a little cold when you stretch/roll it out it’s not the end of the world.

First thing we’re gonna do is make some garlic oil.  This will be our “sauce”.

Super easy – just put a 1/4 cup of olive oil, 2 sliced cloves of garlic, and 1/8 tsp Red Pepper Flakes in a pot over LOW heat until it’s boiling.  Let it simmer for 10 minutes.  I have twice that much in this pot.  I used the leftover oil on some roasted potatoes the next night and it was aaaaahhhhhhhmazing.

So just take your garlic oil (slices of garlic and all) and pour it onto your rolled out dough, leaving a border for the crust.  Next, sprinkle on 8 oz of cheese of your choice.  There are a million options here.  Use what you’ve got handy.  I always have at least 10 kinds of cheese to work with and this week I had even more than that.  I am a lucky girl.   I used roughly equal parts shredded mozzarella, fontina, crumbled goat cheese, and grated parmesan.  You could also use monterrey jack, provolone, a white cheddar, ricotta in place of the goat cheese, a pecorino or romano in place of the parmesan.  Semi-soft cheeses like Taleggio, Camembert, and Brie would be awesome too.  Some are gooey, some are creamy, some are tangy, and some are quite salty.   Follow your intuition and mix and match to your preference.

Just please – no orange cheese.  Because then it wouldn’t be White Pizza.  Duh.

Enjoy!

White Pizza

1 1lb ball prepared pizza dough (wheat based or gluten free)

3 oz Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

2 oz Fontina, shredded

2 oz Goat Cheese, crumbled

1 oz Parmesan Cheese, grated

Dried Parsley for garnish

Garlic Oil

1/4 cup olive oil

2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly

1/8 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

Instructions:

Prepare your pizza dough as directed (bringing to room temp if it was in the fridge).

Make your garlic oil.  In a small saucepan, heat olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes over low heat until boiling.  Turn down heat and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.  Set aside until ready to use.

Place a pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven and preheat oven to 450 degrees.  If using a non-stick pizza pan do the same thing but put it in upside down.  I don’t know why exactly but I’ve read that advice a million times.

On a sheet of parchment paper stretch or roll out your pizza dough to about 1/4″ thickness.  (Roughly the diameter of a large commercially baked pizza, about 12-14 inches across.)  If you’re using gluten free pizza dough you may want to go a little thicker as it does not rise nearly as much in the oven as a wheat-based dough will.

Spread garlic oil on dough, leaving a rim for the crust.  Sprinkle on cheeses and parsley.

Carefully slide pizza onto your hot pizza stone, parchment paper and all (or onto your non-stick pan – just make sure you turn it right side up first!).

Bake 12 minutes.

Makes 8 large slices.