Breakfast Pizza

This was pure loveliness in every sense of the word.  Two of my favorite things rolled into one delicious dish!  Relatively quick, easy, and it produced tons of yummy sounds when served.  I'm sure there's many out there in the great big world who are big breakfast fans.  If you were to offer me a huge  surf and turf buffet or a glorious breakfast buffet, I bet you can tell which one I'd choose.  Breakfast for sure.  Easter Sunday for this little family of mine was wonderful.  James only had a few church meetings early on, and was able to attend all of our regular meetings with the fam.  Granted he doesn't sit next to us, but I can smile at him up front, and he smiles right back.  It's nice to see him:) Church got out early, and we had decided Easter Brunch was in order.  I had seen this recipe on Pinterest a few weeks prior, and decided it was the perfect meal for Easter.

I have a favorite Pizza Crust recipe here, that only requires a little advanced thinking.  The night before the dough needs to be stirred together, but that's it.  The day of, all that is needed is topping prep, assembly, and a quick bake and breakfast is served.  I can't think of anything better for a Mother's Day brunch.  Serve with some fresh fruit, or a Green Lemonade, maybe some bacon or sausage, a Ratatouille would be awesome, and some fresh Rice Pudding for dessert.  Oh that sounds soooo good!  Your mom will love your guts even more than she does now.  Or if you're in the same shoes as me and will be preparing your own Mother's Day meal, this menu is easy, and quick.  I hope you like it as much as I do:)  xoxoxo

Breakfast Pizza

recipe adapted from this recipe from the New York Times

Dough

Recipe from Bon Appetit Magazine Mar. 2012

Ingredients

7 1/2 cups (1000 grams) all-purpose flour plus more for shaping dough

4 teaspoons fine sea salt plus more for seasoning

1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast

3 c. warm water

Toppings (create your own)

Olive oil

eggs (I used 4 on each of the 2 pizzas I made)

4-6 slices of bacon chopped per pizza (I pre cooked the bacon slightly to give it a start.  It finished perfectly in the oven since the heat is so high.)

Any other sort of favorite toppings:

sun dried tomatoes

fresh tomatoes

olives

thin sliced red or other waxy potato

prosciutto

crumbled sausage.....the list goes on and on

Preparation

Whisk flour, salt, and yeast in a medium bowl. While stirring with a wooden spoon, gradually add 3 cups water; stir until well incorporated. Mix dough gently with your hands to bring it together and form into a rough ball. Transfer to a large clean bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let dough rise at room temperature (about 72°) in a draft-free area until surface is covered with tiny bubbles and dough has more than doubled in size, about 18 hours (time will vary depending on the temperature in the room).

Transfer dough to a floured work surface. Gently shape into a rough rectangle. Divide into 6 equal portions. Working with 1 portion at a time, gather 4 corners to center to create 4 folds. Turn seam side down and mold gently into a ball. Dust dough with flour; set aside on work surface or a floured baking sheet. Repeat with remaining portions.

Let dough rest, covered with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel, until soft and pliable, about 1 hour. DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 days ahead. Wrap each dough ball separately in plastic wrap and chill. Unwrap and let rest at room temperature on a lightly floured work surface, covered with plastic wrap, for 2–3 hours before shaping.

To Make the Pizzas

During the last hour of dough's resting, prepare oven: If using a pizza stone, arrange a rack in upper third of oven and place stone on rack; preheat oven to its hottest setting, 500°–550°, for 1 hour. If using a baking sheet, arrange a rack in middle of oven and preheat to its hottest setting, 500°–550°. (You do not need to preheat the baking sheet.)

Working with 1 dough ball at a time, dust dough generously with flour and place on a floured work surface. Gently shape dough into a 10"–12" disk or in my case I tried to spread the dough as big as my cookie sheet.  You can do individual pizzas or 2 family sized pizzas.

Top pizzas.  Here's what I topped my pizza with:  A light drizzle of Olive oil

I cracked 4-5 eggs on top of the dough

Sprinkled the par cooked chopped bacon

liberal salt and pepper

*(Here's my tip inserted here.  I didn't use a pizza peel or a pizza stone.  We formed our pizzas on a silver cookie sheet and called it good.  They turned out amazing and crisp and blistered.  So don't worry if you don't have a pizza stone.)  

Bake pizza, rotating halfway, until bottom of crust is crisp and top is blistered, 5–7 minutes. 

At this point I took the pizza out of the oven and drizzled about 1/4 c. cream over the surface of the pizza and sprinkled 1/4-1/2 c. of Parmesan cheese on top.  Return to the oven for 1-2 minute until cream and cheese are bubbly.  Top the cooked pizza with fresh sliced green onions and serve.