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Breakfast Pizza

Source of Recipe

From "The New Essentials Cookbook" by America's Test Kitchen


Recipe Introduction

"Although it sounds like a bad Saturday morning commercial (Pizza?! For breakfast?!!), it turns out breakfast pizza is just a creative version of the classic bread-eggs-cheese-meat combo. It makes an ideal dish for a brunch crowd and isn't difficult if you start with store-bought pizza dough. Our challenge was getting a crisp crust without overcooking the eggs. To get there, we pressed room-temperature dough into a lightly oiled baking sheet and parbaked it for 5 minutes to give the crust a head start before we added the toppings. The remaining minutes in the oven cooked the eggs just right. The surprising addition of cottage cheese tethered all the ingredients together with a silky creaminess. Room-temperature dough is much easier to shape than cold, so pull the dough from the fridge about 1 hour before you start cooking."

List of Ingredients

◦ 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
◦ 6 slices bacon
◦ 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (2 cups)
◦ 1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (� cup)
◦ 4 ounces (� cup) small-curd cottage cheese
◦ � teaspoon dried oregano
◦ Salt and pepper
◦ Pinch cayenne pepper
◦ 1 pound store-bought pizza dough, room temperature
◦ 6 large eggs
◦ 2 scallions, sliced thin
◦ 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives


Recipe

Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 500� F. Grease rimmed baking sheet with 1 tablespoon oil.

Cook bacon in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until crisp, 7 to 9 minutes. Transfer to paper towel-lined plate; when cool enough to handle, crumble bacon. Combine mozzarella and Parmesan in bowl; set aside. Combine cottage cheese, oregano, � teaspoon pepper, cayenne, and 1 tablespoon oil in separate bowl; set aside.

Sprinkle counter lightly with flour. Roll dough into 15-by-11-inch rectangle with rolling pin, pulling on corners to help make distinct rectangle. Transfer dough to prepared sheet and press to edges of sheet. Brush edges of dough with remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Bake dough until top appears dry and bottom is just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.

Remove crust from oven and, using spatula, press down on any air bubbles. Spread cottage cheese mixture evenly over top, leaving 1-inch border around edges. Sprinkle bacon evenly over cottage cheese mixture. Sprinkle mozzarella mixture evenly over pizza, leaving �-inch border. Create two rows of three evenly spaced wells in cheese, each about 3 inches in diameter (six wells total). Crack one egg into each well, then season each egg with salt and pepper.

Return pizza to oven and bake until crust is light golden around edges and eggs are just set, 9 to 10 minutes for slightly runny yolks or 11 to 12 minutes for soft-cooked yolks, rotating sheet halfway through baking. Transfer pan to wire rack and let pizza cool for 5 minutes. Transfer pizza to cutting board. Sprinkle with scallions and chives and drizzle with extra oil. Slice and serve.

Serves 6






❧ Variation: Chorizo and Manchego Breakfast Pizza

Substitute 6 ounces chorizo sausage, halved lengthwise and cut into �-inch slices, for bacon and 1 cup shredded Manchego cheese for Parmesan. Cook chorizo in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until lightly browned, 7 to 9 minutes. Let cool completely before proceeding.