For the Best BLT Pizza, I will be swapping out the ‘L’ lettuce, for spinach, which marries beautifully with crisp bacon and plump juicy summertime tomatoes!
TOMATOES Are The ‘T’ In BLT!
July is the great harvest month of tomatoes.
They’re being harvested from fields, patio pots, even window sills, and there’s more ways to use this luscious fruit than we will remember from season to season?
My mom and I once leased out 2-full acres of our 12-acre property near the West River of Maryland.
A farmer across the way was delighted to use 10-acres of our property just to grow stuff he would sell at his roadside Farmer’s Market.
His 150 acres was used to grow feed for animals.
On a portion of our field, our neighbor friend grew tomatoes; rows and rows of tomatoes!
It never seemed he watered them, or pampered them in any way. Just blazing sunshine all summer until late July when the field was ablaze in the color of red!
Now that I am all grown up and have an acre of land myself, I experiment with a variety of Garden To Table things I am learning to grow. I am still trying to learn to grow tomatoes though…
Pizza
Pizza is one of the best ways I know to make just about any ingredient come alive into a simple meal loved by everyone!
When you think of it, the sky’s the limit as to what you can lather a beautiful homemade pizza dough with.
But a great pizza starts with a Homemade Bread Dough. Bread dough is easy to make, rises in about an hour, which gives you time to prepare the toppings you are in the mood for.
A few of my favorites, and trust me, these are only a few, are:
- Sfeeha – Mediterranean Meat Pies
- Stromboli – The Perfect Pizza Bite, all rolled up
- Pizza Kabobs with dietary options
- Pizza Primavera
The Best BLT Pizza
I will confess that when the depths of winter set in, and I look eagerly to the month of July and the vibrant colors of tomatoes, the dish I long for most, is a BLT!
Maybe it’s the drippy juiciness of the tomato in contrast with the crunchy salty bacon, nonetheless, in February, I want the BLT OF JULY!
This mouthwatering BLT pizza is my favorite way to have all the things I love about a BLT sandwich, only on a fabulous homemade pizza dough.
To make this pizza even better in flavor, since obviously I’m not putting mayo on it (as I do my BLT sandwich), I toss the spinach in a balsamic, garlic, olive oil dressing instead.
There are three easy steps to making this pizza, so let’s get started!
- Homemade Pizza dough – takes an hour to rise in a warm place, which gives time to cook the bacon and marinate the spinach.
- Marinate the spinach – a marinade of balsamic vinegar, garlic and olive oil.
- Cook the bacon and slice the tomatoes
Ingredients Needed
- Flour
- Water
- Yeast
- Salt and Pepper
- Hard cheese – sheep milk cheese
- Fresh spinach
- Balsamic vinegar
- Garlic
- Olive oil
- Tomatoes
- Bacon
Equipment Needed
- 2 large mixing bowls
- Slotted spoon
- Plastic wrap or a dish towel – to cover the dough while rising
- Wooden spoon
- Rolling pin
- Pizza pan or cookie sheet
- Cutting board
- Chopping knife
- Garlic press
- Sauté pan – to cook the bacon
- Oven
THE BEST BLT PIZZA!
Equipment
- Pizza pan
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
- 3-4 cups Flour extra for dusting
- 1 1/2 cups Water
- 2 tsp Yeast
- 1 tbsp Salt
- 1/4 cup Grated hard cheese for the dough
- 2-3 cups Fresh Spinach rough chopped
- 1 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
- 1 Garlic clove crushed
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 2-3 Ripe Tomatoes
- 1 lb Bacon
- 4 oz Pecorino Cheese grated
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Dough – Pour the water into a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle the yeast and sugar on top. Let it sit for 5-minutes to form a foam.
- Sprinkle salt and a little flour in and stir. Slowly add flour and stir until it becomes more difficult to stir. With your hands begin to press newly sprinkled flour into the dough, turn it over, sprinkle more and continue like this until the dough is no longer sticky to the touch.
- In a clean, lightly oiled bowl, place the dough, cover and set in a warm (not hot), place until it doubles in size, about an hour.
- Preheat oven to 400. Roll out the pizza dough on a floured surface and place on the pizza pan. Brush with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
- Spinach – In a large mixing bowl, toss the spinach, vinegar, garlic 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Allow it to sit room temperature to marinate.
- Bacon – Cook the bacon, either in long pieces to cut later, or cut the bacon before cooking. Drain the fat off and cool.
- Tomatoes – Slice the tomatoes and have ready to place on top of the pizza.
- Place the pizza dough in the oven for 10-minutes to get a start on baking the dough.
- Pull it out and quickly layer the spinach, then tomatoes, topped with bacon, salt and pepper and the cheese. Baste the crust with olive oil one more time and continue baking for another 10 – 12 minutes or until the crust looks golden.
Video
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.