Egg and Bacon Pizza...

Back again for another Friday Night Pizza! We sure have expanded our pizza list since we've started this weekly deal in our recipe section haven't we? This week, we took a look at what we would have for breakfast and put them in this Egg and Bacon Pizza!

You know what I'm going to say already, don't you? Yes, we used that whole-wheat pizza dough for the base as we usually do... whether you buy the dough, use a different recipe or buzz up our favorite in your food processor, just jump in and start making your own pizzas! You will need to work with the dough a bit more than we normally suggest - once you have it stretched out, I'll suggest up front that you'll want to transfer it to a pizza pan instead of using a peel if you have one. You don't absolutely have to, but you will see why in a minute. Creating a thicker crust around the edge is important with this pizza, but it isn't tough to do - just roll the edge of the dough onto itself and seal it down, making sure the edge ends up higher than the center.

Since there isn't a typical sauce on this pizza, we gave the crust a slight zing by smearing on a thin layer of Dijon mustard over the raw dough. Because the toppings won't take but a few minutes to bake, the crust is placed in the fiery oven to get it goin' so you won't end up with a soggy crust. You may not see much color on top, but take a peek under the bottom and take the crust out when you see it begin to take on a golden hue. The pre-baked dough is then topped with crumbles of crisped bacon and plenty of sliced scallions for a mild onion-y bite. Whisked eggs, seasoned simply with fresh ground black pepper and a hint of nutmeg, were then poured over the top in lieu of a sauce (see why we needed that lip on the edge?), followed by a mess of shredded Gruyère cheese. If you use the pizza pan as suggested, you'll have more stability as you move the assembled dish back into the oven with less worry of spillage.

Gruyère can come across a little too nutty for some to enjoy, and is also fairly pricey, so don't be afraid to cut some of it with a milder Swiss or even mozzarella if you like. Since the crust was already started, this needs to go back into the oven just long enough to set those eggs and melt the cheese on top. Salty bacon bits underneath and puffy eggs on top, this was definitely not your ordinary pizza, but who wants to stay vanilla?

If you wanted to change this up, try using Canadian bacon or ham instead of regular bacon, or maybe think about adding thawed frozen spinach for a Florentine spin? With all those breakfast ingredients piled on top, Jeff and I did our best to hold back and not go too crazy with the servings tonight... for no other reason than we wanted an excuse to have enough leftovers for tomorrow morning! Pizza for breakfast? You bet and not one ounce of guilt since we'd probably have some form of eggs, bacon and toast anyway!

Recipes
Egg and Bacon Pizza