Breakfast Pizza

Breakfast Pizza

Breakfast Pizza with a Smoothie

I made some thin crust pizza last night, and I have leftover crusts in the freezer, so I decided to try making a breakfast pizza. My normal breakfast is popcorn and a smoothie, but my day is so crazy and I have so many things to do to prepare for our drive to California tomorrow, that I decided to make my life slightly more complicated (and interesting) by making a breakfast pizza. I realize I'm strange. I just go with it most of the time.
At the beginning of summer, I went to the Des Moines Farmers' Market with my good friend and eating buddy, Elaine. We looked at hostas, baked goods, and lots of dogs, AND we bought ourselves some breakfast pizza. I selected the cheese pizza because I'm trying to cut back on sodium, and although I suspect I'm fooling myself avoiding the ham and bacon and going just for cheese, I felt like I was making a healthier choice. This breakfast pizza had a thin, crisp crust, which I thought worked so well for a breakfast pizza. It really just had egg and cheese on it (and probably lots of salt). 
So, this morning, I've tried to recreate that yummy Farmers' Market experience. I added a little black pepper and some green onions since I thought it would look better in pictures with the green onion, and well, pepper is good on eggs. I am pleased with the results, and I'm glad I didn't get more adventurous and try using pesto on it. This is a simple breakfast, that really wasn't too complicated, since I already had the crust. 
I went ahead and made my usual smoothie anyway, though, using some leftover berries from the last batch of Shortcake Biscuits with Warm Berries. Good breakfast. Very good breakfast indeed.

Breakfast Pizza

Ingredients

• 1 9" thin pizza crust (recipe below)
• 2 teaspoons butter, divided
• 1/2 cup Italian style 5 cheese blend
• 1/4 cup shredded medium cheddar cheese
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1/2 tablespoon sliced green onion
• salt & pepper to taste

Instructions
Preheat oven to 475°F.
Place pizza crust on a parchment-lined baking sheet. (You will slide this onto the pizza stone later, if you have one. If not, you can bake on the baking sheet.)
Brush 1 teaspoon butter evenly over the crust. Set aside.
Heat up a frying pan over medium heat. Beat the two eggs and the milk in a small bowl. 
Place the other teaspoon of butter in the hot pan. When it's melted, pour in the eggs. When edges start to bubble and set, start scraping and stirring with a silicone spatula. Stir and cook until eggs are no longer runny, but not dry. Stir to break apart into smaller pieces.
Evenly spread cooked eggs over crust. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Top with the cheeses and then the green onion.
Slide onto a pizza stone if you have it, or just bake at 475°F for about 4-5 minutes, or until cheese is just bubbly.
Remove from oven, slice, and enjoy.
Serves 2-3 people, depending on their appetites. 

Thin Pizza Crust

Ingredients

• 3 ½ cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (or other bread flour)
• ¾ cup warm water
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 ½ teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

In a heavy-duty stand mixer (like a Kitchen Aid) fitted with a dough hook, add the water, oil, yeast, salt, and sugar.  Mix thoroughly until yeast has fully dissolved.

Add flour and mix on low speed until all of the flour and water have mixed and a stiff dough ball forms, about 3-4 minutes.  (Often the dough will look way too dry.  Sometimes I’ll add water.  Sometimes I will just work the dough with my hands until it forms a cohesive ball.)

Place the dough ball into a gallon sized zip-top bag that’s had a few drops of vegetable oil rubbed around the interior.  Let dough rise in the refrigerator about 24 hours before using.  This step is important, as it develops the flavor of the crust.

Preheat oven to 500°F.  When dough has risen 24 hours, remove from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature for about an hour.  Turn dough out onto a floured work surface.  Cut dough into six equal pieces. Form each chunk of dough into a rough ball and roll out on a floured surface.  I try to get my crust to about 1/8 of an inch thick.  Dock the dough all over with a sharp knife to prevent large bubbles.

Brush off excess flour and place dough disc onto parchment paper and slide dough (with parchment) onto the pizza stone.  Bake at 500°F for 4-7 minutes, or until just starting to brown.  Remove to a wire rack to cool.  Repeat with the other five dough chunks.

What you won't use immediately, place into gallon-size zip-top bags and freeze for later.

Makes 6 9" crusts.