Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Pizza

1) Dissolve yeast and sugar in 1 cup warm water, let sit for a few minutes until foamy. Add olive oil.

2) Combine flour and salt in bowl. Add yeast mixture, and stir with a wooden spoon until mixed. Finish mixing with your hands until all ingredients are mixed, but don’t do any serious kneading. This should take you no more than a minute or two. Dough should be tacky, but not super-sticky (it’s easier if you put a little olive oil on your hands.)

3) Coat a bowl and your dough ball with olive oil, and let rise, covered, in a warm draft-free place for at least an hour.

4) Preheat your oven to 500 degrees. If using a pizza stone, let this preheat with the oven, ideally for 20-30 minutes. Again, coat your hands in olive oil, and spread a little on a piece of parchment paper. Stretch out dough to desired thinness. Move parchment paper and dough onto pizza peel or inverted cookie sheet.

5) Onto the dough, spread out cheese, add tomatoes, and sprinkle bacon bits. Bake on stone or cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes.

6) Remove from oven and add lettuce, and drizzle with ranch dressing (PW has a fabulous recipe for homemade dressing – I typically sub out the mayo for greek yogurt to add some zip.)