Potato and Blue Cheese Pizza

Now that I know I can make my own pizza dough, I am all about homemade pizzas. I pinned this recipe a while ago but have been curiously wanting to try it. It just didn't look like something Cam would be down for. But I am ran it by him and he seemed excited about it. Like always, I changed the recipe up a little.

Here's what you need:

Pizza Dough

1 Vidalia Onion (recipe calls for 2, I used 1)

3-4 Yukon Gold Potatoes (depending on size)

All-Purpose Flour

Fresh Thyme

Blue Cheese

2 Garlic Cloves

Olive Oil

Black Pepper

Sea Salt

 1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

2. For the topping, peel the potatoes and slice them about an 1/8 of an inch thick.

3. Toss them in olive oil, covering both sides of each potato and then lay them each on a baking sheet. After making this, I would recommend using cooking spray on the baking sheet because my potatoes really stuck to the sheet. Sprinkle sea salt and black pepper generously over the potatoes. Add sprigs of thyme to the baking sheet and bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until they are cooked through. 

4. Peel and chop almost the entire onion. Saute the onion in a skillet with salt, pepper, and thyme until they are clear and slightly brown. Set them aside in a bowl when they are finished.

5. The potatoes should be ready by now. Take them out of the oven, plate, and let cool. 

6. Now that the toppings are ready, we can work on the dough. Lightly flour a clean counter top. Place your dough in the flour and being to work it out. I used a rolling pin this time because I was trying to get it really thin. That didn't work out for me too well. 

7. Here's where it gets weird. After rolling out your dough into the shape of a pizza, heat a cast iron skillet on top of the stove. Let it get very, very hot. Turn then skillet upside down and place the dough onto the bottom.VERY carefully, use your fingers to spread the dough to the edges. 

8. Put the skillet and dough into the oven under the broiler until it has browned slightly and "set up." I didn't really know what "set up" meant for a pizza dough so this is what my crust looked like. After taking it out of the oven, use a spatula to carefully loosen off of the skillet. Let the crust cool on a wire rack.

9. After it's cooled, put it back on top of the upside down skillet. 

10. Mince or press the garlic and add it to a little bit of olive oil. Brush the mixture onto the center of the crust.

11. Begin topping the pizza by layering the potatoes then sprinkle the onions and cheese on. Top with sea salt and black pepper. 

12. The recipe says to pop the skillet and pizza back under the broiler for a few minutes. I did this and it just wasn't working for me. I decided to transfer in to my pizza pan and bake it on 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Ok, so here's the deal. This pizza was just OK. Everything tasted fine but it wasn't anything special. Here's what I would change:

1. I would not use the cast iron skillet at all. It dictated the size of my pizza and therefore, the thickness. I would have rolled the dough out so thin to almost a flat bread style.

2. It really needed more bold flavors. I think I was scared to go too far on the flavors and scare Cam off. Next time, I think I will try seasoning and browning the potatoes more. Maybe make them a little crispy on the edges. I would definitely add more onions and blue cheese to the pizza.

3. Finally, I think this recipe would be so much better with the addition of a little bacon. 

A little salt, a little crunch = much better

And doesn't adding bacon make everything it better?

I think so.