BLT Pizza
Bruce calls ham "the most Christian of all meats." Funny, but when I was growing up in the South, I could have sworn it was bacon.
Maybe ham was too much of a given, like loud-mouthed preachers at a state fair. But bacon? Now that was real religion. Along with donuts. Which we buttered. Yep, slathered it on, one bite at a time.
But I digress. Bruce and I have been doing quite a few pizza demos from our grilled pizza book this summer--and the BLT is always a hit, no matter its religious orientation. Here's the drill:
Start by setting up the grill. Heat half a gas grill to medium heat (about 400F), leaving some of the gas ranks shut off; or build a medium-heat, well-ashed coal bed in a charcoal grill, then rake the coals to the perimeter, leaving the center of the cooking grate without any direct heat under it. Place a pizza stone on the unheated section of the grill, cover the lid, and let the stone heat for 30 minutes. If you're working on a charcoal grill, you'll need extra briquets to keep the fire going.
No pizza stone? Get the grill heated up as directed and we'll come back to the problem.
Meanwhile, cook and chop up 12 ounces bacon. Also chop 8 ounces cherry tomatoes.
Then deal with the crust. We've used Stop&Shop's finest all summer. Not the prebaked ones but the 1-pound raw doughs in bags, sometimes sold near the fresh pasta in the supermarket. Failing that, you can always stop by a pizza parlor and ask for a 1-pound dough. They'll sell it to you for a couple bucks.
Set the dough on a pizza peel (that big wooden paddle) dusted pretty well with cornmeal. Dimple and press the dough into a circle about 8-inches in diameter. Then pick it up by the rim, holding it at about ten o'clock and two o'clock; move your hands bit by bit around the perimeter, stretching the dough as you do until it's about 14 inches in diameter. (Rustic's OK.)
If you don't have the peel and a pizza stone, lay the dough in the center of a cornmeal-dusted, lipped baking sheet; dimple, stretch, and press it into a rough, 12 x 8-inch rectangle.
The one thing that's really important here is that you shake the peel or the baking sheet occasionally to make sure the dough hasn't stuck in any way. If so, pry it up and add more cornmeal underneath.
Spread a little Dijon mustard over the crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border at the edge. Now top with the bacon, then sprinkle about 6 ounces grated mozzarella over the pizza, again keeping that border sacrosanct.
Just before you put the thing on the grill, sprinkle on the chopped tomatoes.
Slip the pie from the peel to the hot stone--or place the baking sheet with its pie on the unheated section of the grill grate. Close and bake on the grill until the crust is firm and the cheese has melted, about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, whisk 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 teaspoon Dijon, and some freshly ground black pepper in a large bowl until creamy.
When the pie comes out of the oven, dump 2 cups packed chopped lettuce and/or arugula into the bowl with the mayo mixture and toss well. Mound this salad mixture on top of the pie and cut into wedges. Cool salad, hot pizza, lots of bacon--now there's a pie that'll even silence the preachers.
bacon, lettuce, mozzarella, pizza, tomatoes 
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Reader Comments (1)
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