bacon potato pizza

It's been way too long, and I can't believe I've put this post on hold, collecting micro-dust in my laptop's hard drive. There's definitely a certain fondness for the salty goodness in a crispy bacon bite in everyone's heart, at least everyone I know. So how can a thin crusty pizza topped with bacon go wrong? Add potato and cheese to the mix and you have a match made in finger food heaven.

My cracker-like pie began when I found smoked mozzarella and a bag of medley potatoes at Trader Joe's. I saved the red ones and used the remaining to make roasted garlic potatoes. Luckily, I had some bacon in the freezer, a purchase induced by the half off sale at my local market. The traditional pizza dough was replaced by a St. Louis style cracker thin crust, which I saw on an episode of America's Test Kitchen. I love paper thin crust, so I couldn't resist changing it up.

A mandoline was completely the key to getting the small potatoes translucently thin. The shingling of the slices reminded me of scales and another dish I made years ago where halibut is wrapped in potato scales and pan fried. That was a delicious fish dish, something I saw on an episode of Top Chef and used the recipe from Anne Burrell. It was so aromatic and perfect, I was stunned at the delicate dish. But back to pizza...I didn't have any rosemary, as my plant decided to give out despite hearing how other people's rosemary plants growing into bushes. Perhaps my final product lacked the herbal aroma of the original recipe, but lacking in its complexity, it exuded simple and hearty bar food bites.

The potato cooked just enough to soften, but remained texturally pronounced, and the bacon provided the appropriate saltiness as usual. The smoked mozzarella was definitely something I would probably enjoy more than Parmesan as in the original recipe. The smokiness played off well with the bacon. These little squares were quite tasty with a bottle of ice cold beer.

Potato Bacon Pizza adapted from Martha Stewart and America's Test Kitchen


makes two 14 x 4-inch pizzas

4 oz sliced bacon
1 recipe St. Louis style pizza dough
AP flour, for dusting
4 oz small red potatoes, skin on
olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 oz smoked mozzarella

Dough:
2 cups AP flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp water
2 tbsp olive oil

To make dough: Combine flour, cornstarch, sugar, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. Combine water and olive oil and stir into dry ingredients, until dough comes together. Turn dough onto floured surface and knead 3-4 times until cohesive. Divide dough into two equal portions and roll out each dough portion on a parchment lined into about 14 x 4-inch pizzas. Transfer to baking sheets.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees and adjust rack to lower-middle position. Slice the bacon crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces. Place the bacon in a large skillet and cook over medium-low heat until most of the fat is rendered and the bacon is just beginning to brown, 4-6 minutes. Drain on paper towel and set aside.

Using a mandoline, cut the potatoes into 1/16-inch-thick slices. Arrange the slices, overlapping slightly, on the pizza. Brush with oil and season lightly with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with half of the bacon and mozzarella. Bake about 9 minutes, until crust is golden, rotating pizza halfway through baking. Slice into squares and serve warm with your beer of choice.