Bacon, Potato and Cheese Pizza

It seems that my brain doesn't stop thinking about food some days. This morning I came up with a recipe idea for a pizza. You see my inspiration came from the website In the Kitchen with Jenny and she posted these great little cheese stuffed bread sticks using her homemade dough recipe. Well sometimes I get inspired from looking at some one else's creations then the juice just starts to flow. That's how I ended up with an idea for a pizza that would be close in flavor to a potato gratin and had ingredients of a baked potato soup. Crazy, right?

For the sake of ease I purchased some store bought dough. I already had some nice thick cut bacon and potatoes, cheddar cheeses, cream and sour cream so I was almost there. The only purchase was the dough. Our store carries fresh dough balls in the dairy section. It has a store label on it so I don't know if they make it in house or have a purveyor they purchase from. It's $1.99 for one package and sometimes they have it for $1.50. Since it's a good dough the ease of pre-made and ready to rise was fine by me.

• 1 bag of pre-made pizza dough (or make your own recipe for one pie)
• 1 large baking potato
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese + extra for the top
• 3 strips bacon
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 4 oz. sour cream
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• pinch kosher salt
• oil or cooking spray

1. Get your dough rising by placing it in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise to double its size. If the dough is warm already it takes about 1 1/2 hours, if cold about 2 - 2 1/2 hours.
2. Place the heavy cream in a medium size sauce pot and add in the salt and pepper and sour cream. Stir.
3. In a frying pan cook your bacon about 3/4 of the way and when ready drain on paper towels. When the bacon is cooled, cut or rip it apart into pieces.
4. Peel your potato and using the blade in your food processor slice the potato. If you don't have a food processor that does slicing, then cut the potato about 1/4" or less by hand.
5. Immediately add the sliced potatoes to the cream and submerge them. Bring the cream up to a slight bubble and adjust the heat to a simmer and cook the potatoes for about 12 minutes.Take the pot off the heat and let them sit in the cream.
6. Start preheating your oven to 450°.
7. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spread a thin layer of oil over it or use non-stick spray.
8. Take your risen dough and punch it down. Use a little flour to roll it, or as I did take the dough and keep stretching it onto the foiled lined baking sheet. It takes a while to stretch, so use either method to get a good sized pizza. The alternative is to roll in a circle and use a regular pizza pan if you have one, stretching to fit. Cover with a towel.
9. Go back to your cream and scoop out the potatoes and place in a bowl and cover. From here on out work quickly so you avoid the potatoes oxidizing. (Some of mine did.)
10. Place the sauce pot over medium heat and add in the one cup of shredded cheese and keep stirring until it's all melted.
11. Assembly: pour the cheese sauce (all or 3/4 of it) on the dough and spread out. Add the potato slices next, the bacon and top with some extra shredded cheese to taste.
12. Baked in a preheated 450° oven for 18 minutes.
13. Let it rest for one minute then with spatulas remove the a cutting board and cut some nice slices to serve.

This pizza is rich and it is filling. With all of the flavors you find in a gratin and baked potato soup - well in my book this is a great tasting pizza. My only regret is that I did not add some fresh chives to balance out the richness from the cream and cheese.

When I get an idea I generally check the internet using keywords to see if someone else has been one step ahead of me. This time I did not search so I don't know whether this is novel, clever and brilliant or not. All I know is that it's decadent, rich and really delicious. I hope you'll give this one a try. That's the beauty of pizza dough and making pizza because you can make any combination based on your personal tastes.

This bacon, potato and cheese pizza cost approximately $6.95 to make. Considering pizza house prices especially for "gourmet" pizza, this is a steal.