Baked Potato Pizza

Well, it has begun.  School, that is.  Today was day 2 with the kids.  It hasn't been horrendous yet - I like my class - but there are all sorts of other insane things going on that make it rather exhausting and difficult.  However, that has not stopped me from cooking.

Weirdly and shockingly, my mom found a recipe in a magazine that she thought sounded great: baked potato pizza.  Would anyone on earth guess that my mom would eat and/or like baked potato pizza!?  Clearly it is obvious that I would love it, but MOM?  But she asked for it Monday night.  So last night, I made the doughs, and today I made the pizzas.

I have always used the same pizza dough recipe, but this pizza had its own dough recipe and I decided to give it a try.  Plus it's all Guy Fieri's, and that guy knows what he is talking about!  It needs to rise for a bit longer than the recipe I already used, but other than that it was easy enough.  The recipe makes two doughs, and I put them in the fridge last night.  Later I read on a blog that you should never put them in the fridge, only the freezer, but it worked out okay, luckily.

Is it ready yet!?

Today it was pizza day.  It did kind of take me a while, since I had to use a mandoline to slice potatoes and onions, I had to chop herbs, and I had to cook bacon (by the way, this was the first time that I did that in the oven instead of a skillet.  It was amazing and I am so cooking bacon this way every time.  400 degrees, 25 minutes, and a foil-lined baking sheet, and you have perfectly-cooked bacon and no messy cleanup!  Not to mention no painful spatters on your arms.  Genius.  Thank you, Pinterest).  But then it was pizza-making time.  Mark was my darling sous-chef; he rolled out the dough, I sprinkled the cheese, and then he laid out the potato/bacon/garlic etc. topping.  He was very exact about it so that each bite would have a little bit of everything.  Then he was extra good at shimmying the pizza off the cookie sheet and into the oven on the pizza stone.

We ended up making both pizzas, and then frantically sending Rach to the store for more dough, since we unexpectedly had 7 people for dinner!  They unfortunately were out of fresh dough, so she bought those Boboli already-cooked doughs, and we made two more pizzas with those.  I had plenty of toppings left to make 4 pizzas instead of the two that it claims to make, so it wouldn't hurt to double the dough recipe.

These pizzas were a huge hit!  Everyone loved them, from Mom to Rach to Mark to Alex to Jack to Luke - and of course, me!  The thinly sliced potatoes, the three types of cheese, the fresh chives and tomatoes, the bacon - oh my god.  Can there be more delicious ingredients on any pizza anywhere?  I think not.  This will a definite repeat pizza.  In fact, as I type this, Mom is saying, "that pizza was really great, Bridget."  As for the dough, I didn't notice a huge difference between this and the one I have always used (although Mom says she did.  Go figure.  She said it was the perfect taste and crispy/chewy combination).  They have both been great.  Bottom line: make your own pizza dough :)   I actually didn't try the Boboli pizzas since I got full by then, but Mom said it was surprisingly still good.  She said my dough tasted better, but this one cripsed up nicely and made up for its lack of flavor.  She still preferred mine though, luckily.

Now: bed time.  Yeah, at 9:00.  You try spending the day with 22 10-year olds!  They suck the energy right out of you!

Recipes:
baked potato pizza and pizza dough

both recipes from Better Homes and Gardens magazine, September 2012

pizza dough

ingredients:
1 tsp sugar
1 cup warm water (113 degrees... but I just go by feel)
1 tablespoon active yeast
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more to grease bowl
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, dissolve the sugar in the warm water.  Sprinkle the yeast on top.  Let stand for 10 minutes or until foamy.

2.  Add olive oil and salt to the yeast mixture, then use the dough hook to mix in the flour.  Mix until dough comes together.  Add more flour as needed and allow machine to knead dough until smooth.

3.  Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead about 2 minutes more until dough is no longer sticky.  Place dough in an oiled bowl and turn to coat surface.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and let stand in a warm place for 1 hour until doubled in size.

4.  Turn out dough onto a floured surface.  Divide in half.  Form into smooth, tight balls.  Cover loosely with a floured kitchen towel and set in a warm place to rise again for 30-45 minutes.

5.  When ready to use, press dough with fingers to flatten as much as possible.  Drape dough over hands, stretching to desired size and thickness (to be honest though, Mark used a rolling pin). Place dough on a floured pizza peel (on my wish list.  I used a corn meal-ed baking sheet).  Top and bake.


baked potato pizza

ingredients:
1 recipe pizza dough, or one 1-lb. ball purchased dough (boooo!)
all-purpose flour for dusting
4 medium-sized Yukon gold potatoes, skin on (1  3/4 lbs.)
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup very thinly sliced sweet onion
6 slices applewood-smoked bacon, crisp-cooked and crumbled
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves ( I ran out so I used fresh oregano, since it has taken over my garden anyway)
extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon flaked sea salt
freshly cracked black pepper
1/3 cup shredded sharp white cheddar cheese
1/3 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
TOPPINGS: sour cream (due to Mark and Rach hating sour cream, I just put this out alongside the pizza so people could serve themselves)
4 diced Roma tomatoes (I just used one big one from Heidi's garden!)
1/4 cup finely chopped chives

1.  Preheat oven with a pizza stone to 500 degrees.

2.  For pizza, thinly stretch or rolleach piece of dough, dusting with flour. 

3.  Fill a large bowl with cold water.  Using a mandoline, slice potatoes paper-thin.  Place slices in the cold water and swirl to remove excess starch and prevent potatoes from turning brown.  Drain off water; lightly pat potatoes dry with paper towels.  Add garlic, onion, bacon, and thyme to potatoes in bowl.  Drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.

4.  Combine monterey jack and cheddar cheeses.  Divide cheeses between pizza doughs, spreading evenly.  Divide potato mixture and spread evenly on pizzas.  Drizzle each pizza with olive oil.  Top with sea salt, pepper,  and sprinkle of Parmigiano-Reggiano. 

5.  Bake pizzas 8-10 minutes, until crust is golden brown, potato edges are lightly curled, and cheese is bubbly.

6.  To serve, cut pizzas into squares.  Top with a dollop of sour cream, diced tomatoes, and chopped chives.