30 minute Kale and Bacon Pizza

Hello All,

Here is a great recipe for Kale and Bacon pizza. I know, Vanilla Bean has been a little “Pizza-heavy” lately but its an easy weeknight meal, everybody seems to love it no matter what you put on top…and did I mention BACON?

Kale is the it food right now – one of the top super foods. It fights free radicals and has tons of vitamins! Its everywhere, smoothies, salad mixes, soups, omelets and more. Bacon on the other hand..uh, not so much. It is definitely not a super food but the Kale will bust out all of the “bacon-bad”. That’s my philosophy and I’m sticking to it.

You will need to use some of the bacon fat in this recipe. Its only a little bit but it goes a long way in terms of flavour. It’s delicious, lets face it and without it you would just be eating….Kale :/

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound store-bought or homemade pizza dough.

**This weekend why not make the “Best Pizza Dough Ever” and freeze it until you need it. http://stephaniemormina.com/2014/03/09/best-pizza-dough-ever/

Cornmeal, for dusting baking sheet
4 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
2 1/2 cups curly kale leaves, torn into 1-inch pieces
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
6 ounces mozzarella, thinly sliced
1/3 cup thinly sliced red onions (mine were too thick and did not cook down enough for my taste)
Shredded Parmesan cheese, for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 500ºF.

Roll out the pizza dough on a lightly floured surface until it is roughly 12 inches wide and 1/4-inch thick. (See Notes.)

Invert a baking sheet and sprinkle it liberally with cornmeal. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet.

Cook the diced bacon in a medium sauté pan set over medium-low heat until a majority of the fat has rendered. Remove the bacon pieces with a slotted spoon to a large bowl, along with 2 teaspoons of the bacon drippings. Add the kale, olive oil and garlic to the bowl, tossing to combine.

Arrange the mozzarella slices in a single layer on the pizza dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edges. Evenly scatter the kale-bacon mixture on top of the cheese then top the kale with the sliced red onions. Brush the border of the pizza dough with the reserved bacon drippings.

Bake the pizza for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating it half-way through, until the crust is fully baked and golden brown. Remove the pizza from the oven to a cutting board, sprinkle it with Parmesan cheese, and slice and serve.

Notes:

I recommend baking your pizza on an inverted, rimmed backing sheet. I don’t know why but it makes the dough beautifully crispy! It makes all the difference.

Oven temperatures and positions may vary, so make sure you are baking your pizza on the middle rack and check it frequently.

The kale leaves must be well coated in the bacon drippings and olive oil or they will burn before the dough is fully baked. And it may seem like a large amount of kale, but pile it high atop the dough, as it’ll cook down significantly once baked.