Chicago Bacon Pizza

Pasta and Pizza | American cuisine

⏳ Time

2 hours + 12 hours

🥕 Ingredients

🍽️ Servings

Description

Recipe from the cookbook by Sarah Johnson 'National Pies'.

Ingredients

Dry yeast - 0.4 oz
Water - 10 fl oz
Sugar - 2½ spoons
Wheat Flour - 17.3 oz
Corn Flour for Polenta - 3 oz
Butter - 3.5 oz
Onion - 1 piece
Garlic - 2 cloves
Vegetable Oil - 1 tablespoon
Dried Rosemary - ½ spoons
Tomatoes Concasse - 30 oz
Worcestershire Sauce - 1 tablespoon
Ground Black Pepper - ¼ spoons
Chili Flakes - to taste
Olive Oil - 5 teaspoons
Basil - 3 sprigs
Smoked Brisket - 7.1 oz
Melted Cheese - 15.9 oz
Hard Cheese - 1.8 oz
Salt - to taste

Step by Step guide

Step 1

Prepare the dough. Crumble the yeast, pour in cold water, and stir until the yeast dissolves. Add 2 teaspoons of sugar and mix. In a mixing bowl, combine wheat flour and corn flour, then add salt and diced cold butter. Attach the 'paddle' attachment to the mixer and mix the flour with the butter at low speed until it forms an uneven crumb. Pour in the yeast mixture and quickly knead the dough. Do not knead the dough until smooth; it should remain slightly ragged.

Step 2

Transfer the dough to a work surface and roll it out into a rectangle measuring 15–18 cm in width and about 7 mm in thickness. Fold it into thirds along the shorter side, like a letter. Place the dough in a bowl, cover it, and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Then, roll out the dough again lengthwise, fold it into thirds, place it in a bag, and refrigerate for 6 to 24 hours.

Step 3

Prepare the sauce. Grate the onion or chop it in a blender. Finely chop the garlic. Cut the bacon (for the filling) into thin rectangular pieces measuring 5×10 mm, place them in a saucepan, pour in the vegetable oil, turn the heat to low, and render the fat from the bacon without overcooking the meat. Transfer the bacon pieces to a paper towel. In the saucepan, add the onion, oregano, lightly salt, and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until translucent, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes along with their juice, season with sugar, and increase the heat to high. Once the sauce begins to boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 30-35 minutes (it should yield about 300 ml). Remove the saucepan from the heat, add Worcestershire sauce, black and hot red pepper, olive oil, and roughly torn basil leaves. Taste and adjust with salt and sugar as needed. Transfer to a bowl and let it cool to room temperature.

Step 4

Preheat the oven with a baking sheet to 220 °C (428 °F). Take the dough out of the refrigerator and divide it into 2 equal parts. Roll each part into a circle with a diameter of 25-27 cm (10-11 inches). Generously grease two baking pans with olive oil. Using a rolling pin, transfer the dough into the pan and press it down with your fingers all around the perimeter of the bottom. Cover one pan with plastic wrap or place it in a large plastic bag and refrigerate.

Step 5

Grate the mozzarella on a coarse grater and the hard cheese on a fine grater.

Step 6

Sprinkle the dough with half of the mozzarella, then layer the sautéed bacon on top and spread half of the sauce. Sprinkle with hard cheese. Place the dish on a baking sheet and bake the pizza for 20-30 minutes, until the dough is golden brown. Remove the pizza from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. Carefully transfer it to a serving plate.