How can you make a loaded baked potato better? Put it on a pizza! This loaded baked potato pizza is simple and delicious!
Is there any food as versatile as pizza? I mean, really?
Sure, you can throw things into a soup or a quiche or a casserole but in all honesty, is there ANY food that is not at home on a mound of rolled-thin dough, topped with cheese and baked?
Don’t answer that. I’m sure there are lots of foods that wouldn’t be good on a pizza, at least not in the traditional sense, but you could probably turn just about anything into a pretty successful rendition of this versatile Italian (ahem!) pie.
While perusing a menu for a potential restaurant review recently (haven’t tried the restaurant yet but probably will this summer), I noticed a menu item called “baked potato pizza”. Truth be told, I didn’t even read the description because my head instantly started swimming. Baked. Potato. Pizza. Two of my favorite foods together at last? Why hadn’t I thought of this?
I have shared in the past that when I was a kid I didn’t care for pizza. I feel quite certain that Philip’s and my first date (where I ordered a BLT pizza) was probably my first experience with anything more exotic than the now ubiquitous barbecue chicken pizza, which was sold for a short time at Chuck E. Cheese’s when I worked there in high school. These days, however, pizza is a landing strip for pretty much any ingredient that finds its way into my fridge. I mean, I’ve shared with you: BLT pizza (mentioned above); bacon and fig pizza; potato-leek pizza; and roasted broccoli and garlic pizza. That doesn’t even scratch the surface of the pizzas that get made in my house, dough risen just so, rolled out, sprayed with oil…topped with the perfect ratio of ingredients and sprinkled with cheese then baked on a hot stone. Often pizzas get topped again once out of the oven, whether with a bitter green or a sauce or chopped onions or a fried egg. Probably all of the above would be delicious, really.
And then there are baked potatoes. I love a good loaded potato. I don’t know what it is about the fluffiness of a Russet filled with silky butter, cold sour cream, and stringy, sharp cheese and finished with salty bacon and the bite of chopped green onions, but I can’t think of a much better combination on this planet. It’s a classic “queasy stomach” meal for me (yep, completely topped, because I eat weird things when I’m sick). I’ve made it into many a soup but I think the combo on a pizza might be even better. I hope you’ll try it too!
(For my pizza dough, I halved the recipe shown here: http://www.tastingtable.com/entry_detail/nyc/99/Jim_Lahey_reveals_his_recipe_for_no_knead_pizza_dough.htm
Yield: 4 servings
15 minPrep Time:
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Ingredients
- 1 Recipe pizza dough (I used the link shown above)
- 1-2 medium Russet potatoes (thinly sliced)
- 4 Ounces cheddar cheese-I like sharp (grated)
- 4-6 Strips bacon (cooked and crumbled)
- 2-3 green onions (thinly sliced)
- 2 Tablespoons sour cream
Instructions
- Prepare the pizza dough according to the recipe. When you are ready to make the pizza, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Preheat your pizza stone if you are using one.
- Roll the pizza dough into the desired shape and thickness. I like to do this on a piece of parchment paper to minimize clean-up and make it easy to transfer the pizza from my peel to the stone (if you don't have a pizza peel you could use a pan the same shape as the pan you are baking your pizza one to transfer your pizza to the oven). You can also roll out the dough and place it on a pan before placing in the oven, though a pan that hasn't been preheated will take longer to bake the pizza.
- Spray or brush the pizza dough with olive oil then top with the sliced potatoes in a thin layer. Spray the potatoes with olive oil as well then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover with the cheddar cheese then evenly sprinkle the bacon on top. Transfer to oven and bake for 8-12 minutes, until cheese is lightly browned (I broiled mine briefly) and the potatoes are cooked through.
- Sprinkle the green onions evenly over the pizza. Place the sour cream into a sandwich bag and cut the corner of the bag and pipe over the pizza. Slice and serve immediately.
Notes
Prep time does not include time for the pizza dough to rise.
Click here to print the recipe for baked potato pizza!
