Make Your Own Stuffed Crust Pizza

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This morning, I wanted to cook breakfast for my wife. I figured I would cook up a few strips of bacon in the microwave. We have one of those dishes that does a good job of cooking bacon in the microwave oven.

So, I removed the package of Chuck Wagon bacon and was ready to pull apart some of the slices. When I opened the package, there was not one discernable slice of bacon. When Wendi asked what I was complaining about, I said, "This looks like someone asked a baby to put some bacon in a package." I tried to delicately separate just a few slices so I could make Wendi's breakfast.

No, sir. Chuck Wagon was having none of it.

Well, if that was the way Chuck wanted to play, it was fine with me. I removed a slicing knife from the block and proceeded to cut the congealed mass of seasoned and cured pork into little pieces. I was going to make bacon bits.

I cooked up the bacon bits and made Wendi an egg, cheese and bacon bits sandwich for breakfast. But, as I looked at those bacon bits I had a plan for them: Pizza. My favorite pizza is a cheese pizza; my next favorite is pepperoni and bacon. My wife had plenty of string cheese in the fridge, so I decided I would make a stuffed crust pizza.

I didn't feel like messing up our KitchenAid stand mixer, so I decided I would make the dough in a stainless steel bowl (I think it must have been like 1 1/2 quarts).

Dough:

3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

1-1 1/2 cups warm water

1 Tbsp instant yeast

1 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp Kosher salt

1 Tbps olive oil

I put everything in the bowl except the water, and then I added 1 cup of water. It needed a little more, so I added some. I actually stirred everything with a wooden spoon until the dough formed, and I next kneaded it for a couple of minutes. I did not work the dough a lot. I formed it into a ball and placed it back into the bowl and covered it with a tea towel. After about an hour I punched it down and reformed it into a ball. Covered and waited until I was ready to cook dinner.

Sauce:

For this particular pizza, I used an uncooked sauce on my half and Mid's Pizza Sauce on Wendi's.

The stuffed crust:

When I was ready to make the pizza, which was probably 1 1/2 hours after I made the dough, I floured the counter and placed the dough on the counter. Using my hands, I started to form the crust, making sure it was round and the air was pushed out of the dough. I used a rolling pin to stretch it out, but it kept wanting to shrink back in. So, I started stretching the dough in my hands. I am not the best at this, so I only do it if it is completely necessary.

Once the dough was big enough to overlap the perforated pizza pan I was using, I placed it on the pan, but not before applying some nonstick spray. I took out four pieces of string cheese, cut them each in half and placed them around the outer edge of the crust. Then, I did my best to fold the dough over the cheese sticks, tuck it under and seal it.

The pizza:

I placed the sauce on the crust, covered it with cheese by alternating slices of mozzarella and provolone (I prefer to use sliced cheese). I covered my half with bacon and pepperoni and Wendi's with bacon, pepperoni and mushrooms. I placed it in on the bottom rack of a 450-degree oven that had been heating up for around 45 minutes. (I want my oven hot when I make pizza. If I am using a pan, I cook at 450 degrees. If I am cooking on a stone or a pizza screen, then I up it to 550 degrees and have the oven preheating for an hour.)

It took about 10-15 minutes for the pizza to cook, and it was better than anything you will get from one of those chain restaurants.