Pancetta and Smoked Mozzarella Pizza

Imagine a white pizza - meaning one made without a spec of tomato sauce but with a creamy buttery peppery nutmeg spiced white bechamel sauce, sprinkled with crisp pancetta and bits of smoky bacon,  sun dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers and pepperoncini. Kissed with smoked mozzarella as well as some of the unsmoked version, it's all hot, steamy, creamy and subtle in flavor.

The taste of the pancetta and bacon really stand out as does the smoked mozzarella. The pepperoncini add a very subtle bite of spice and the creamy rich bechamel really holds the whole thing together. It's the bomb!

There's just one little thing - I darn near drove the Big Guy nuts as he was building this beauty because I did something really stupid. Now I've made this pizza crust a b'zillion times - it's my "go to" when we're having pizza and ready in a flash because it's made in the food processor. It's really never fail, but fail it did last night. Actually to tell the full story, I can't blame the crust because the cook was at fault.

Moral of the story - measure, measure, measure. I eyeballed the flour and oil and wasn't careful with the water either resulting in a dough that was way, way too soft and hard to handle. It didn't have the crunch or consistency of our usual brag worthy version, and it was a giant pill for the Big Guy to roll out, never mind get from the pizza peel to the stone in the oven.  Sorry my darling man. I sure hope your blood pressure's back to normal!

Pancetta and Smoked Mozzarella Pizza (an original from JBug’s Kitchen)

Crust:

1 cup warm water

1 package active dry yeast

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (or bread flour)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

In bowl of food processor with metal blade, combine 1-1/2 cups flour with warm water and yeast. Blitz to mix well. Add 1 more cup of flour, olive oil and salt. Blitz just until dough forms into one ball and rides on top of the metal blade – about 20 seconds. Remove dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk (about 1 hour). After dough has risen, remove to a floured board and cut in half. Form into 2 balls and cover with a bowl. Allow to rest for 20 minutes before shaping. Makes two 12 inch pizzas.

Sauce:

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

1-1/2 cups milk or fat free half and half

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

In a small saucepan melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour and whisk to combine well. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes stirring constantly. Whisk in milk and cook until thickened – about another 5 minutes, whisking often. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg. Set aside to cool.

Pizza:

4 ounces pancetta, cooked until crisp

4 ounces smoky bacon, cooked until crisp

Roasted Red Pepper, diced (I used jarred)

Dry packed sun dried tomatoes

Pepperoncini (optional)

6 ounces smoked mozzarella, sliced

4 ounces grated mozzarella

Preheat oven to 500 with pizza stone on lower rack. Roll dough into 2 – 12 inch discs. Split sauce between 2 pizzas, then add rest of ingredients, ending with grated mozzarella to prevent sun dried tomatoes and bacon from burning. Bake for 12 minutes.

A year ago - Old Fashioned Lemon Pudding   Two year's ago - Mushroom and Marsala Soup

Comments

[Lea]

Reading the description of the pizza is like reading a romance novel - it just sucks you in - love it!
Funny - I never seriously measure my pizza dough ingredients because of the humidity here - I always need to add more flour - so I use my kitchen aid and go for my final consistency - it is what works for me in the swamp. If I lived in the desert - I would do your method for sure.

[June]

Lea - my method needed some serious help and I knew when the dough went into the bowl to rise that it was too soft. The Big Guy said to tell you his blood pressure's back down where it belongs.

[Lorraine]

I keep thinking I will try making my own pizza dough every time you post a new pizza recipe. This one may have put me over the edge.

[June]

I seriously prefer a pizza made with bechamel rather than tomato sauce. I know it's weird but it is so darn delicious.