Fry

Leek, Bacon and Goat Cheese Pizza

by:
May  7, 2010
4
1 Ratings
  • Serves 3
Author Notes

This is a home grown version of my favorite pizza at my favorite local pizza joint (which some of you may know as Pizzeria Mozza). You can use any pizza dough you like -- the one I've used here is Peter Reinhart's excellent Neo-Napolitano Pizza Dough from Artisan Breads every day. I've included the full recipe for the dough, but the toppings are intended to make 2 pizzas -- the dough freezes in individual portions. —Savour

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Pizza Crust
  • 5 1/3 cups AP flour
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon instant yeast
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 cups room temperature water
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more to work with
  • For the toppings
  • 4 leeks, white and light green parts only
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1/4 cup white wine
  • 1/4 cup cream
  • salt to taste
  • 4 pieces bacon
  • olive oil
  • 4 ounces fresh goat cheese
Directions
  1. Pizza Crust
  2. Combine all ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix with the paddle attachment at low speed for about a minute. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
  3. Switch to the dough hook on your stand mixer. Mix at medium speed for about 5 minutes. The dough should be wet but not too tacky.
  4. Transfer the dough to an oiled board, and knead by hand for a few minutes. Divide into 5 equal portions, form each portion into a ball, and store each portion in a lightly oiled ziplock bag. (At this point, you should be able to freeze the bags you don't plan to use immediately).
  5. Let the dough sit in the refrigerator at least overnight, or up to 4 days.
  6. About 90 minutes before you plan to bake the pizzas, take the dough out of the refrigerator, form into a neat ball, and let rest at room temperature on a floured or parchment lined baking sheet.
  7. Preheat oven to 500 degrees (or higher). Form the pizza dough into a flat dish on a floured sheet. It is now ready for toppings.
  1. For the toppings
  2. Clean the leeks by slicing them lengthwise and running them under water until all the layers are clean. Roughly chop into 1 inch pieces.
  3. In a large skillet, melt the butter. Add the leeks, and cook over medium heat until they start to soften.
  4. Add the wine, and cook until absorbed. Add the cream, and cook until absorbed. Salt to taste and remove from heat.
  5. Meanwhile, chop the bacon into bite sized pieces and fry until cooked but not too crisp (it cooks further in the oven).
  6. Brush each pizza crust with olive oil. Arrange the leeks, the cooked bacon, and crumbled goat cheese over the top of each pizza.
  7. Bake at 500 degrees 15 minutes.
Contest Entries

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Melissa
    Melissa
  • ItsBrooksie
    ItsBrooksie
  • CarlaCooks
    CarlaCooks
  • deanna1001
    deanna1001
  • Cheazza
    Cheazza
I'm a Los Angeles based home cook with a full time job and 2 young kids, so my recipes tend to be accessible to busy people. I firmly believe that anyone can cook good, everyday meals from scratch with sufficient tools and encouragement, and I try to create meals that are delicious, wholesome and not too intimidating. Most of my favorite recipes tend to be twists on a classic dish that makes it new and exciting.

16 Reviews

Darian August 24, 2018
I used my own favorite pizza dough recipe, and used the red wine I had on hand. The cream really made this stand out. It was fantastic!
 
Melissa June 4, 2016
Yum! Thanks! Made exactly, except used the white wine vinegar plus water like CarlaCooks. Great little recipe
 
ItsBrooksie February 5, 2016
I made this and it's delicious. Except I cheated and used TJ's very good pizza dough. The best method for preparing the dough and baking the pizza I've found is to pre-heat the oven at the highest temperature it will go for an hour (I use 550 F), shape the dough using no additional flour on a piece of parchment, slide the parchment onto a baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes, remove the parchment paper (it'll slide right out from under the pizza), and bake for 3-5 minutes more. You don't think it'll work, but it does -- like a charm!
 
CarlaCooks April 19, 2015
I just made this for lunch (served it alongside Amanda's kale and anchovy salad). I also sautéed the leeks in the rendered bacon fat and omitted the butter. I didn't have any wine open, so I used 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar and enough water to make 1/4 cup. After baking the pizza for 10 minutes, I added chopped cooked beets to the top for the last 5 minutes of cooking. The end result was fantastic! Lovely favors from the leeks/cream, nice salty crunch from the bacon, creamy yummines from the goat cheese, and some earthiness from the beets.
 
deanna1001 March 16, 2014
I've done your version twice now and want to thank you for simplifying the dish! I have the Mozza book and her original recipe has scallions and garlic confit to go along with the leeks (takes way more time to prep). Your version is true to the essence with much quicker prep, though I do add garlic while the leeks are cooking... The Mozza dough is fantastic, but again, fussier than the Reinhardt version.
 
NM E. March 7, 2013
Is four pieces of bacon really enough to feed three people?
;-)
 
Whitney W. January 29, 2013
I just made this tonight (used my usual pizza dough). It was fabulous!! I did decide to add roasted beets drizzled in balsamic & I think it was a nice addition. Thank you for the recipe:)
 
Cheazza November 7, 2011
Leeks seem like they would really bring out the flavor on this one. Check out my pizza blog at http://cheazza.tumblr.com!
 
OmMama October 19, 2011
We just moved to Newport Beach from Charlotte, North Carolina. I have seen Mozza a few times on our way to Balboa, and Peter Rhinehart was a instructor at Johnson & Wales in Charlotte. It is very ironic that this outstanding recipe seems to combine our new life with our old one.
 
emilyloeb July 26, 2011
so SO so good! just wrote about it on my blog!
http://recipesistolefromyou.tumblr.com/post/8114592472/bacon-leek-goat-cheese-pizza-yall
 
Pizza M. March 31, 2011
Great recipe, made it this past weekend. I sauteed the leeks in some of the bacon drippings and substituted chicken stock for the wine, worked fine. Hard to go wrong with bacon!
 
Runnah M. March 24, 2011
Excellent pizza! Thanks for sharing.
 
Lyn B. March 12, 2011
Great recipe. Use nuezkes bacon- Wisconsin. It brings it to a better place.
 
douglasalan May 10, 2010
add cream?what cream? u forgot to list in with the ingredients!
how much cream?

does sound good,though
 
Savour May 10, 2010
Doh! Why do I always do this on food52 and NEVER on my blog? 1/4 c. cream.
 
Savour May 10, 2010
And yes, it's delicious.