The "Everything That May Spoil Soon" Pizza

Happy Tuesday, readers! The sun is shining, birds are singing, the Polar Vortex is wreaking havoc on basically the entirety of the United States and I'm trying to use up all my perishables. You know how it is, you buy food, life gets in the way and then suddenly you have several weeks' worth of food you need to eat before it gets rotten and stinks up your fridge.


Last night I had the perfect idea! What food can you put literally anything into and it (almost) always ends up incredible? You guessed it! Pizza! There are so many weird combos that people still eat! BLT pizzas, Chicken Bacon Ranch pizzas, Green Chile Cheeseburger pizzas, dessert pizzas! You get the idea. Anyway, upon close inspection of my refrigerator, I had 1 fresh tomato, 1 green bell pepper, 1 shallot, and a pack of bacon so I threw them on top of a pizza and viola! An excellent dinner option.


The "Everything That May Spoil Soon" Pizza

For the crust:
1 Tbsp active dry yeast
1 C warm water (105-115 degrees)
1 Tsp sugar
1 Tsp salt
2 C flour (plus more for sprinkling)
1/2 C corn meal (optional)


Dissolve yeast in water.


Using your handy stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine all ingredients until mixture resembles pizza dough.


Roll dough out on a floured surface to about 1/8 inch thick.


Now this is where the cornmeal comes in handy: sprinkle corn meal onto your pizza stone or pan and it'll keep your dough from sticking to the pan (in theory, unfortunately I haven't mastered how to prevent sections of my pizza dough from completely adhering to my pizza stone. Anyone have any suggestions?)


For the pizza:
1 pizza crust
2 C pizza sauce (I was lazy and bought some from Aldi, but homemade is much better)
1 bell pepper, diced
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 tomato, thinly sliced
6 slices of bacon, diced and cooked
1/2 C parmesan cheese
3 C mozzarella cheese


Preheat oven to 450.


Cook your bacon in a skillet to just under desired done-ness (remember, it'll continue cooking in the oven), and drain on a paper towel.


Top your crust with sauce, bell peppers, shallot, tomato, cooked bacon and mountains of cheese.


Bake on the bottom rack of your oven for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.


This pizza hit the spot, and had the added bonus of using up the items I spent my hard earned money on and don't want to simply throw in the trash. SCORE!


Enjoy your Tuesday, folks!