Bacon, Fingerling Potatoes, Rosemary and Fontina Cheese Pizza

What’s not to love with a combination of bacon, onion, thinly sliced potatoes and Fontina cheese?! Pizza is a meal that I can make year-round, and my husband and I love it!  I like to make pizzas that aren’t necessarily made with a traditional red pizza sauce.  I’ve made this gourmet pizza a few times, and it’s absolutely delicious!

I like to make pizzas that aren’t necessarily made with a traditional red pizza sauce.  That’s what intrigued me about this pizza recipes. I’ve made this gourmet pizza a few times, and it’s absolutely delicious! First, the pizza crust, which took about 15 minutes for me to make, with the assistance of my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer and a dough hook:

Let’s talk about yeast, shall we?  Do not fear!  I prefer to use SAF instant yeast, because I don’t have to do the 5-10 minute wait of mixing rapid rise yeast with sugar (or honey). However, I still had some active dry yeast, so I decided to try this pizza crust recipe (I’m still in-love with my King Arthur Flour Pizza Crust recipe, with semolina flour).

Use very warm water (no more than 110F) mixed with sugar and yeast.  The top left photo shows the bubbling action that started. This is a good sign!  To six cups of  unbleached flour  add kosher salt, (and I added the KAF pizza dough flavor) and then add the bubbly yeast-water-sugar combo. You can do this by hand, and the printable recipe tells you how. Me? I like technology and I let the dough hook do all the mixing and hard work…

Ya gotta add olive oil to pizza dough.  Mix this dough until it feels right– too crumbly add a little more water– which is what I did. I added about 2 Tablespoons more water, until it felt elastic-y (is that a word?)  If it too soft, add a little more flour. 

On a lightly floured surface, I kneaded this a few times, folding it over itself until it seemed elastic. See?  Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl. I don’t have a warming drawer, so I turn the oven on to WARM and then turn it off a couple minutes later.  The bowl is covered with plastic  and then I left the house for three hours…which is totally unnecessary– one hour would have done the trick!

Hello?!  That’s a lot of pizza dough! I very gently deflated the dough…  now to prepare the topping:

Bacon... my husband’s aphrodisiac.  I keep apple wood bacon in my freezer. It’s much easier to cut, so I don’t both to defrost it.  After reading reviews on this recipe, I decided to pre-cook the bacon…

I love my cast iron skillet, now that I finally learned how to season it and take care of it– that’s another blog post…

The toppings will be fingerling potatoes and thinly sliced onions. Let’s talk about the fear of mandolins, shall we?  I love my mandoline. It’s older than my 21-year old son and I have never cut myself!  I’ve had closer calls using my expensive chef’s knife… just use that “guard” that comes with it (pictured)! 

Thinly slice the potatoes (you could use Yukon Golds) and the onion– I used sweet Vidalia onions. I cut fresh rosemary, from our garden.  In retrospect, I wish I had added some freshly minced garlic— I will definitely do that next, time.   About that bacon…

I drained the fat and, see, the bacon isn’t completely cooked. I let it just start to brown. Now, for the cheese…

I have a weakness for Fontina cheese. I doubled the amount of Fontina cheese, than the recipe listed. I’m glad that I did!  Back to the pizza dough.  Sure, you can use a pizza stone. However, I was intrigued at how Tyler Florence uses a large baking sheet (jelly roll size), so that’s what I did.  Into a 450F oven, I preheated the pan for about 10 minutes (while I made the topping).  While it was preheating…

The dough was super easy to work with. I decided to roll it out on a non-stick mat, and I pre-measured it to fit the pan (13×18).  Otherwise, you could try and work with it on a hot pan, which I opted not to do. I slid the pre-measured dough onto the very hot pan, that I drizzled with a little olive oil. A section tore a bit, so I used one of my cake decorating tools– worked great!

Spread out the topping evenly– and sprinkle with the Fontina cheese (not pictured….I forgot). Bake at 450F for about 20-25 minutes. Be prepared for an intoxicating combination of delicious flavors wafting from your oven– I could hardly wait!

TASTING NOTES:  Delicious!  The slightly peppery arugula and fresh lemon juice is a perfect compliment to the bacon and onion.  The potatoes are so subtle, because they are very thinly sliced.  Craig and I ate several pieces, and we both liked this very “different” pizza. We both agree that skipping the arugula/lemon juice topping isn’t an option for us.  The next time, I would definitely want to use more bacon, and to add some fresh garlic to the topping– just a little bit.  We also added a little fresh grated Parmesan to the pizza.   As for the crust…

TASTING NOTES:  I have to say, that this pizza crust is a keeper!  Preheating the pan, yielded a crispy crust.  I used 1/4 of the crust dough and it’s in the refrigerator.  I find that letting it ferment a day or two adds even more flavor.  I stopped buying frozen pizzas a long time ago– and I won’t buy pizza dough in a can.  Trust me, you can make the dough in about 15 minutes.  Make it a day before, then bring it to room temperature and make this pizza– or any pizza.  The crust is a winner.  It’s also a bit healthier version of pizza, and I believe it’s a lot less expensive than take-out gourmet pizzas.

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Bacon, Fingerling Potato, Rosemary and Fontina Cheese Pizza

Pizza is a meal that I can make year-round, and my husband loves it!  I admit, so do I.  I like to make pizzas that aren't necessarily made with a traditional red pizza sauce.  That's what intrigued me about this pizza recipes. I've made this gourmet pizza a few times, and it's absolutely delicious! What's not to love with a combination of bacon, onion, thinly sliced potatoes and Fontina cheese!

Prep Time45 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Pizza dough resting time:1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total Time2 hours hrs 40 minutes mins

Course: main

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Gourmet Pizza

Servings: 8

Author: Debby – www.AFeastfortheEyes.net

Ingredients

For the pizza dough:

• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 cups warm water 100 to 110° F
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 6 cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus extra for bowl
• 2 tablespoons King Arthur Pizza Dough Flavor Enhancer* optional

For the pizza topping:

• 3 to 4 baby Yukon gold or fingerling potatoes finely sliced
• 1/2 small onion finely sliced (I used one small Vidalia onion)
• 6 slices Quality thick-cut smoked bacon finely chopped
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil plus extra to grease pan
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 garlic clove finely minced (optional, but tastes great)
• 1 cup shredded fontina cheese I used two cups

For the grand finale*:

• 1 cup baby arugula optional
• 1/2 lemon juiced

Instructions

To make the pizza dough (which is really good):

If you're using a stand mixer:

• In a small bowl, combine the yeast, sugar and water and stir gently to dissolve. Let the mixture stand until the yeast comes alive and starts to foam, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Combine the salt and flour to the bowl and pulse a few times to mix.

  Add the yeast mixture, at the lowest speed, until the flour incorporates.

  When the dough starts to come together, increase the speed to medium and mix until the dough gathers into a ball. This should take about 2 minutes.

  Add the olive oil and pulse a few more times. Stop the machine periodically to scrape the dough off the hook. Get a feel for the dough as you're making it by squeezing a small amount together between your thumb and fingers. If it's crumbly, add more water, if it's sticky, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.

  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and fold it over itself a few times, kneading until it's smooth and elastic.

If you're making the dough by hand:

• Add the yeast mixture to a large bowl and stir in the salt and the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Then begin stirring in the flour.

  When the mixture becomes too stiff to stir with a spoon, knead in the rest of the flour by hand, adding just enough so that the dough is soft but not too sticky.

  As you work, squeeze a small amount of dough together between your thumb and fingers. If it's crumbly, add more water; if it's sticky, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
• Form the dough into a round and put it into a lightly oiled bowl, turning it over to coat the dough entirely with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let it rise in a warm spot (i.e., over a gas pilot light) until it doubles in size, about 1 hour*.
• NOTE: *I turned my oven on to warm, then turn it off. This helps to speed up the proofing of the pizza dough.

For the pizza:

• Preheat the oven to 450°F.

  Put a jelly roll pan or half sheet pan in the oven.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the fingerling potatoes, onion, bacon*, and rosemary leaves (and fresh garlic, if using). Add 1/4 cup of olive oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Toss together to coat with olive oil.
• NOTE:* I pre-cooked the bacon, but didn't over crisp it. I'm glad I did this, as the bacon was cooked perfectly.
• Take the preheated jelly roll pan out of the oven and drizzle some olive oil over entire surface. Cut the dough into 2 pieces and reserve 1 piece for another use*.
• NOTE: I actually used 3/4 of the dough, and rolled in on a non-stick pie crust mat. I was able to pre-cut it to fit my jelly roll pan, which I thought was easier. Otherwise, stretch the pizza dough out so it is just bigger than the pan, then lay it inside the pan so the dough comes up the sides to form a crust on the rim.
• Pour the potato mixture onto the pizza dough, then sprinkle with shredded Fontina cheeses (Iincreased the amount to 2 cups). Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until crispy and golden, about 20 to 25 minutes.

OPTIONAL BUT GLAD I DID THIS:

• Garnish with arugula and drizzle the lemon juice over the top. Serve immediately.

Notes

The arugula and fresh lemon juice is what made all the flavors come together. I highly recommend it!

NOTE: I buy King Arthur Pizza Dough Flavor Enhancer, which makes all of my pizza, from their website. It makes pizza dough taste even better!

Recipe source: Adapted from Tyler Florence, Food Network

Tried this recipe?Mention @afeastfortheeyes or tag #afeastfortheeyesblog!

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