Bacon, Onion, and Mushroom Pizza with a Crispy Thin Crust

When I worked at a mom and pop pizza place, my favorite was a thin crust bacon and onion. Today, I just wanted that.

Isn’t life funny? When I first thought about making a pizza earlier today, I was all about a very thin and crispy crust. Got that, but I was more thrilled with the sauce. I gotta save this recipe for later. Oh, wait, I’m doing that now! You can also see that I am not into nice geometric shapes with my pizza-freeform is great for me.

This makes 2 medium pizzas or one extra-large. If making two, just divide the dough into two pieces and put half the sauce and toppings on each.

Ingredients:

Crust:
1 package (1/4 oz.) rapid rise yeast
½ teaspoon sugar
¾ cup warm water (around 105 degrees F)
1 teaspoon olive oil, plus extra for coating the bowl
1 ½ to 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting the rolling surface
1 teaspoon salt

Sauce:

4 heaping Tablespoons tomato paste
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon garlic salt

Cheeses:
1 cup shredded provel, provolone or mozzarella (me, I’m using a combo of all three, of course)
½ cup fresh mozzarella or burrata, thinly sliced

Toppings:
4 strips of ready to microwave bacon, torn into bite size pieces
½ cup yellow or white onion, thinly sliced
½ cup mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon olive oil

Directions:
In a medium mixing bowl, combine yeast, sugar and warm water. Stir to combine. Let sit for five minutes to let yeast proof (look for bubbles!). Mix in the oil and then the flour and salt. Form into a ball and place on a clean surface. Rub a little olive oil around the bowl and roll the ball of dough around in it to coat. Cover with a clean towel and let rest for 45 minutes.

While the dough is resting, put a pizza stone or baking sheet into the oven and preheat it to 450 degrees F*.

Make the sauce by combining all ingredients. Set aside.

Toss the onions and mushrooms in 1 teaspoon of olive oil to coat. Set aside.

Roll out dough on a well-floured surface until it is thin. You may have to patch any holes. .Remove the stone/sheet from the oven using oven mitts. Place the dough on the stone/sheet and return to the oven, again using oven mitts! Bake for five minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and flip it with a spatula. Add a thin coating of sauce (save the extra sauce for another day), the cheeses (shredded first and then fresh) and then the toppings. Pop it back in the oven (again with the mitts!) for 16 minutes.

*Note: Higher heat will get you a crispier crust, so go for what you want to do and just shorten the cooking time. Me, I’m chicken. I only go to 450 degrees so my oven doesn’t burn up.