Bacon + Pineapple Pizza with Balsamic Reduction and Gorgonzola

Crust:

2 1/4 tsp. yeast (or one packet)

1 1/4 Cup warm water

4 1/4 Cup flour + more for rolling out crust

2 tsp. salt

1/4 Cup olive oil

Drizzle of honey (about 2-3 Tbs)

Mix warm water and yeast together, let sit for 5 minutes or so (don’t use hot water, it will kill the yeast). Mix flour and salt, drizzle with honey. Add dry ingredients to wet, mix well. Make sure all flour and water is absorbed. Form into a ball. Grease the bottom of a large bowl with olive oil, coat dough ball in oil. Let sit while you prepare the sauce and toppings. Dust a cutting board with flour and roll dough out to the size of your cast iron pan. Dough should be smooth and elastic if it sticks to the cutting board add more flour.

Balsamic Reduction:1 cup balsamic vinegar1 Tbs. Brown Sugar1 Tbs. Honey

In a sauce pan, combine vinegar, honey and sugar. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer, Stir occasionally for 20-30 minutes. Remove from heat, sauce will thicken as it cools.

Toppings:

1lb. cooked and crumbled bacon
1 can sliced pineapple
1/2 Cup Gorgonzola cheese
1/2 Cup mozzarella cheese
A few sprigs of fresh rosemary

Bacon:
I like to bake my bacon, there is less splatter that way and it cooks more evenly. This can also be done in a cast iron pan. Pre-heat the oven to 350. Lay strips flat in a pan or on an aluminum foil lined cookie sheet (if using a cast iron pan, lay the bacon right in the pan). Bake until desired crispiness is achieved. Drain bacon on paper towels and crumble when cool. If you have a grill pan you could bake the bacon in it and grill the pineapple using the bacon drippings.

Pineapple:
I used canned pineapple because they were already cut into pretty rings and are easier to grill. Fresh or chunk pineapple will work as well (if you are not pre-grilling).

If you cooked bacon in a grill pan drain the excess drippings and return to high heat, lay the pineapple slices in a single layer and grill just until grill marks are visible.

Assembly:

Preheat oven to 425. Pizza will cook much faster on a charcoal grill or in a fire so watch carefully and check often. Spread the coals out as even as possible and don’t let them pile up anywhere or your pizza will have burned spots. (I will be posting grilled pizzas as well, but today was rainy).

Lay rolled out dough in pan and push edges up sides of pan about half way. Cover with crumbled bacon. Lay grilled pineapple slices over bacon, try to cover as much area as possible, cut up extra slices and toss those on too. Sparingly, cover pizza with Gorgonzola crumbles and a drizzling of Balsamic Reduction. Top with mozzarella cheese and garnish with rosemary. Bake until crust edges are golden brown and cheese is melted. Slide your pizza out onto a cutting board, chop it up and enjoy!