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Bacon & Mashed Potato Pizza

Savor the irresistible combination of crispy bacon and fluffy mashed potato dollops atop a delectable pizza, perfectly complemented by roasted garlic, melted mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese, all resting on Jim Lahey's no-knead pizza dough.
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Servings: 2 8"-10" pizzas
Course: Breakfast, Dinner, lunch
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For Jim Lahey's no-knead pizza dough:
  • 2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour (I used 00 Tipo flour)
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • ⅛ tsp active dry yeast *(see notes)
  • ¾ cup + 1 Tbsp water
  • 1 tbsp honey (optional)
For the toppings:
  • 6-8 strips bacon
  • 2 heads garlic
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • ½ lb Yukon gold potatoes (1 large or 2-3 small to medium potatoes)
  • salt and black pepper, to taste
  • 2 tbsp heavy cream, creme fraiche, or sour cream
  • 1 tbsp melted butter
For baking:
  • 1 tbsp cornmeal or semolina flour (however much is needed to prepare baking surface)
  • 1-2 tsp olive oil for brushing the dough before topping
  • 2-4 tbsp grated parmesan
  • 1-2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese,
  • ½ tsp dried oregano or 2 tsp fresh

Equipment

  • 1 10-inch cast iron skillet, or baking steel

Method
 

  1. To prepare the dough, mix water and honey (if using) in a small bowl until the honey is dissolved. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and stir again. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt, then add the yeast mixture and stir until a sticky dough forms. (Most recipes, including Lahey's, typically advise sifting the yeast into the flour directly. However, Cynthia prefers to dissolve the yeast in water first to ensure it's activated before adding it to the flour mixture.)
  2. Cover bowl with plastic and keep at room temperature for approximately 18 hours, or until the dough has more than doubled and surface is covered in tiny bubbles. (See notes below on shortening rise times if you forget to do this the night before.)
  3. When ready, scrape the dough onto a well-floured surface. It should be quite sticky ad soft, with loong strands of wet dough. Generously flour the dough and pat it into a loose rectangle, then divide in half and form each piece into two balls by tucking the four corners into the center of the dough. Turn them seam-side down and let them rise for a final hour, covered with a damp cloth.
  4. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. If you like to cook your bacon in the oven, place the bacon in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and place it in the cold oven now, as it preheats. In about 10-15 minutes, or by the time the oven is preheated, the bacon should be cooked. If you prefer cooking on the stovetop, prepare the bacon in a skillet in your preferred method while the oven is preheating. Either way, when the bacon is at your preferred crispness, remove from heat, drain, and pat dry. Set aside.
  5. Once the oven is hot, slice off the top of your garlic bulbs so that each clove is exposed. Drizzle a bit of olive oil over top, rubbing each clove to make sure the oil is well-distributed. Wrap the bulbs in foil and bake for 30 minutes. When it's done, the garlic should be soft when pressed. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
  6. Next, or while the garlic is roasting, prepare the mashed potatoes. Skin the potatoes and slice into quarters. Place in a medium pot with enough cold water to fully cover the potatoes and a generous helping of salt (at least 1/2 Tbsp), then bring to a boil and cook for about 10-15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender enough that a fork slides through without resistance. Drain the water. Put the pot back on low heat, then use a potato masher or a fork to gently mash the potato in the pot letting steam escape as you mash. Take care not to work the potatoes too much, or they will turn gummy.
  7. Add the melted butter and stir lightly to incorporate. Add the cream and stir again until blended. For topping the pizza, I prefer the mashed potatoes a little drier than I normally prepare them, so that they don't make the pizza soggy. You may have to put the pot back on low heat if the potatoes are too thin after you've added cream and butter. Taste the mashed potatoes and season with salt and pepper as needed.
  8. When the dough has risen for another hour and your toppings are ready, prepare your baking surface by sprinkling it liberally with cornmeal (or semolina flour). I used a cast-iron skillet and found it to work wonderfully, though you can also use a baking steel, sheet or, of course, a pizza stone. Preheat the oven to 500 ℉. If you prefer, place the skillet or pizza stone in the oven to preheat. I generally don't and find my pizza to be just fine. (If the crust isn't as crispy as desired after baking, you can place it on a stovetop burner to crisp it further.)
  9. Press, shape, or stretch the dough into a flat circle or rectangle however you like (I'm no pizza shaping expert!) I find that placing my fists underneath dough and letting it fall gently over them stretches the dough out nicely. For this amount of dough, 10" circle works best. You can try for a 12"-13" circle, but you may risk ripping a hole and, in that case, you will have to fix. I prefer reserving the extra dough for the edges of the crust rather than enlarging the circle, as it allows for puffier and more decorative edges.
  10. Take the roasted garlic and press out the cooked cloves. Brush a small amount of olive oil over the dough, then spread the garlic evenly across the dough in small pieces. Sprinkle desired amount of Parmesan and dried or fresh oregano across, then the mozzarella and bacon. Finally, drop tablespoon-sized dollops of the mashed potatoes across the pizza.
  11. Bake at 500℉ for 10-15 minutes, or until the pizza reaches your desired brownness. Slice and eat immediately.

Notes

Jim Lahey's No-Knead Pizza Dough Recipe (seriouseats.com)  The provided link directs to the same video mentioned earlier, which showcases Jim's larger recipe capable of making 4 pizzas measuring 12 inches each. Additionally, the video includes instructions on how to conveniently freeze and refrigerate any extra dough for future use.
 
Experiment with the placement of your cast iron skillet (or baking steel if you have one) until you discover the perfect spot in your oven for achieving your preferred crust. I've found that the upper third of my oven works best.
 
*If you forget to set out the dough the night before, simply double the yeast to 1/4 tsp and it should rise just fine in 8 or 9 hours instead of 18.