Breakfast Pizza

I chose to make Breakfast Pizza as my 1st ever home-made pizza for breakfast, using my new toy to knead the pizza dough. haah, new toy was a extremely early birthday present.. 😛

Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Makes 2 12″ pizzas

½ tsp dry active yeast
2 cups plus 2 tbsp bread flour, plus more for dusting
Kosher salt (I used seasalt)
6 strips bacon
½ cup grated Parmesan (I used old Dutch cheese)
2 cups grated mozzarella
6 large eggs
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp minced flat-leaf parsley (I used sweet snack paprika)
2 tbsp minced chives
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 shallot, minced

Preparation:
Night before, prepare dough:

Place ¾ cup lukewarm water in bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook.
Sprinkle in yeast, stir and let sit for 5 mins.
Add flour and 1 tsp salt and mix on low for 1 min. Increase speed to medium and mix for 2 mins, then increase speed to high and mix until a smooth dough forms, abt 2 mins more.
Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface, divide into 2 equal pieces and form each half into a tight ball.
Place on a large floured sheet pan, place pan in a plastic garbage bag, tie bag loosely and refrigerate overnight. (I wrap doughs separately in clingwrap, flatten them a bit and put into fridge overnite.)
1-2 hours* before baking, place dough in a warm spot.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and set a pizza stone on it. Preheat oven to 250C (I used 240C fan-assisted), 30 mins before pizza’s ready to be baked.

Prepare dough and toppings:

Fry bacon in a large pan over medium-high heat until crisp. Cool on a paper-towel-lined plate; roughly chop.
Dip hands and a ball of dough into flour. On a lightly floured countertop, pat dough into a disc with fingertips, then drape dough over fists and carefully stretch it from beneath to form a 12-inch circle.
Generously dust surface of a pizza peel or large inverted sheet pan with flour and place stretched dough on it. Sprinkle dough with half of Parmesan, mozzarella and bacon. Crack 3 eggs over top and season with salt and pepper.

Bake pizza:

Shake pizza peel slightly to make sure dough’s not sticking.
Carefully lift any sections that are sticking and sprinkle a bit more flour (or semolina) underneath, then slide pizza directly onto a baking tray.
Bake for 8-10 mins, rotating after 5 mins.
When crust’s golden, cheese’s melted and egg yolks are cooked, use peel to transfer pizza to a cutting board.
Sprinkle half of parsley, chives, scallions and shallot on top.
Let cool for 2 mins, slice and serve immediately. Prepare 2nd pizza in the same way.

Note:

The original recipe suggests that the dough be taken out 1 hour before baking and Deb took hers out 2 hours earlier, I took mine out at least 3 hours earlier. It was ok in getting dough back to proofing at room temperature without any consequences. In this time, toppings can be prepared and oven can get nice and hot.
Bacon could be omitted, other countless toppings could be added from spinach to mushrooms or sausage, swap some or all of the mozzarella for goat cheese and swap out some of the flour in the crust for whole wheat flour. Although the recipe as is makes 2 large pizzas, it would be fun to make 4-6 smaller ones with an egg each in the center — plus, friends could choose their own toppings.
If planning to use only 1 pizza dough, the other can remain in clingwrap and to be put in a sandwich or freezer bag. Keep in freezer till next time. Just remove dough from freezer the day before, leave in fridge to defrost totally before continuing the process. Remove from fridge at least 1-2 hours before use.