BLTizza & New Favorite Pizza Dough

This was not what my husband was expecting when I said I was making "BLT pizzas."  He was expecting a classic marinara and cheese pizza, topped with sliced tomatoes and bacon.  What he actually got was this.  As he surveyed it, he said, "Do you want me to take a picture? You know, just in case?"  That means, of course, just in case it was good enough to put on the blog (I really only write about things that we want to make again).

Despite his hesitation, this ended up being a refreshing, albeit a bit messy, dinner option (we served this with roasted cauliflower).  It's like an open-faced wrap piled high with lettuce, a maple-dijon vinaigrette, crumbled bacon, feta and farmers market tomatoes.  I loved it - it was light, loaded with vegetables in and smoky from the bacon and vinaigrette (you use some bacon grease in the vinaigrette...which I'm totally okay with).

And yes, my husband had to have a second piece.  And a third.  And I had to stop him after that or he wouldn't have any lunch the next day (although in his defense, without the marinara and cheese of a traditional pizza, it makes this pizza much lighter so he needs to eat more). 

I'm also giving the recipe for my new favorite pizza crust that we used for the BLT pizzas.  My dad introduced me to it and it's become my go-to pizza crust recipe (we used it for the roasted eggplant pizza). The ingredients take a spin in the food processor and then the dough has to rise for an hour - and that's it!

New Favorite Pizza Dough Recipe
Taken from: Martha Stewart
Makes 2 pizzas (I always halve this because my food processor is small)

• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour or white whole wheat flour (I use about 2 cups of white whole wheat and 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose; you could also try whole wheat, whole wheat pastry or spelt flour)
• Extra flour for work surface and bowl
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt or kosher salt
• 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water (approx 100 degrees)
• 1 (1/4-ounce) package or 2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons raw sugar
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• cornmeal, for dusting pizza stone

1. Place flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add water, yeast, sugar, and olive oil. Process until a dough has formed.
2. Dust a large bowl with flour and transfer dough in bowl. Sprinkle flour on top of dough and cover with a damp towel. Let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. Punch down dough and turn out onto a lightly floured work surface. Use immediately or wrap dough in plastic wrap and keep refrigerated until ready to use.

BLTizza
Taken from: Can you Stay for Dinner?
Serves 3-4 

• 4 cups mixed baby greens 
• 1-2 tomatoes, diced (I used one sliced tomato and 1/2 cup of halved grape tomatoes)
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced (optional - my husband doesn't like raw onion)
• 6 slices bacon, pan fried, drippings reserved for dressing 
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 cup maple bacon vinaigrette, recipe below
• prepped pizza dough, recipe below (you could also use flatbreads or naan) 
• Maple Bacon Vinaigrette Dressing:  
• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar 
• 1 tablespoons bacon drippings 
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup 
• 1/2 tablespoon spicy brown mustard 
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper 

1. To cook the pizza dough - Place a pizza stone (or overturned baking sheet) into the oven and preheat the oven to 425.  Shape the pizza (it would be best to make these 4 individual pizzas but I was too lazy for that).  Once oven is preheated, sprinkle hot pizza stone with cornmeal.  Slide pizza(s) onto pizza stone, cooking until the bottom is crisp, about 10-15 minutes (after 10 minutes, I had to deflate the pizza using a spatula).
2. While pizza is baking, cook the bacon.  Save the bacon drippings for dressing.  
3. MAKE DRESSING:  Whisk all dressing ingredients in a medium bowl until well combined. Store extras in an airtight container.
4. Top each pizza with greens, tomato, onion, crumbled bacon, and feta cheese and drizzle on the vinaigrette.