Pop5 - The 5 Most Popular Recipes Right Now..
11 November 2011
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Between university work and even more university work I haven't had the time to post anything on here for ages, and chances are that I won't in the near future. When I came across this recipe for a strawberry and bacon pizza by Chris over at the Cafe Sucre Farine, though, I knew that there was no point in trying to resist the temptation of making it - and since I was trying it out anyway, there's no reason not to write up a short post on it as well, right?
The idea of putting strawberries on a pizza may strike some of you as odd - I'd certainly never heard of it before - but as it turns out, it's absolutely genius. If only my pizza base had been better (my first attempt was too soggy, the second rather too bready, gah!) this would be right up there in my top-5 all-time favourite pizzas. The only problem is that strawberries are darn expensive in the autumn/winter! Anywho, here's Chris' recipe (converted to metric measurements for my fellow Europeans; if you prefer cups and to ml, head on over to the original post which I linked to above) -
Ingredients
(Serves 2-3 people)
- 60ml Balsamic Vinegar
- 120ml Strawberry Jam
- 1tsp Sriracha chili sauce - I replaced this to taste with a generic 'hot sauce' the my old flatmate had left behind, which worked splendidly
- Pizza dough - Unfortunately I don't have a good recipe to share with you, this basic recipe from Delia is the best I've found thus far..
- 235ml pre-cooked shredded Chicken Breast - odd measurement for chicken, I know, I used 2 small/medium breasts
- 120ml Smoked Bacon - I used about 8 rashers of streaky bacon, don't know if that's 120ml/½ a cup or not but it seemed like a good amount!
- A handful of thinly sliced Sweet Onion
- 340grams of Cheese, grated - Chris' used Sargento, I used about 2/3 cheddar and 1/3 Parmesan, aka what I had at home
- A handful of Coriander leaves
- A handful and a bit of chopped up Strawberries - I used about 10 medium sized berries
Method
1) Prepare your dough & roll it out - doing so on a lightly (corn) floured sheet of baking paper will make life a lot easier for you in the near future.Regardless of your baking sheet preferences, however, do use cornflour. I didn't for one of my attempts and it wasn't pretty. Luckily the dough was soggy and rubbish anyway so it didn't matter too much!
2) Set your oven to 230c. Grab a saucepan and poor in your balsamic vinegar, place over heat and bring to the boil then reduce and leave to simmer for about 5 minutes or until it has reduced to half and thickened up a bit - then add your jam and chili sauce and remove from the heat.
3) Put your chicken in a bowl and add 2tbsp of the balsamic vinegar mixture to it and coat the chicken; pour the rest of the mixture onto the pizza and spread out evenly.
4) Sprinkle about 3/4 of your cheese onto the pizza base, then add the chicken, bacon and onion, and finally the remaining cheese.
5) Put your pizza in the oven and bake for about 8-12 minutes (it varies from oven to oven, so keep an eye on it!) at which point the cheese should be nice and bubbly and the crust golden brown.
6) Remove from the oven, then add the strawberries and coriander leaves and serve!
I for one think Chris is a genius for coming up with this - it's completely different to any other pizza I've had, and the sweetness of the fresh strawberries is really nicely balanced by the chili in the base, and perfectly complemented by the smoky bacon. Absolutely beautiful, thanks Chris!
Comments
http://thecafesucrefarine.blogspot.com/2011/11/fall-pizza-pesto-applewood-bacon-w.html
Hi Chris! Thanks for stopping by. :) I will definitely be making it again with delicious British strawberries, though the chances of me waiting that long before making it again are very slim! I've already made it three times - the pizza dough let me down the first time, and the second time was a practice run to make sure I got it right for the third. ;) The Mrs', who I shared the third pizza with, commented that she had expected it to be nice but weird, and so was surprised to find that it was just nice and not weird in the slightest, hehe. That's a compliment, by the way. ;) We both really, really enjoyed it.
I will definitely try your autumn pizza as well - hopefully in the next couple of weeks. By the way, the link to your favourite pizza dough recipe in the autumn recipe doesn't seem to work..
Oh! Nearly forgot to answer your last question there - nope, I live up in Edinburgh, and have done for the past 5 and a bit years, though I'm originally from Sweden. Glad you enjoyed looking through my wee blog, by the way. :)
Quoting leigh:
Haha that was basically my reaction when I first came across it as well. Take my word for it, though, it's absolutely insanely delicious - Chris is my new pizza hero.
I was wondering if you prepared the bacon before placing it on the pizza? 8-12 minutes doesn't sound like long enough to get the right crunchiness.
Cheers from Sweden!
Cheers for stopping by. :) Nope I didn't cook the bacon beforehand, but you're right in that it didn't get crunchy. Not entirely sure I'd want it to be crunchy for this particular dish, to be honest - I reckon there may be a bit too much of a texture clash between the soft, juicy strawberries and crunchy bacon. But hey, that's my five pence!
If you want crispy bacon (http://thebaconbible.com/core-recipes-3/12-bacon-school-proper-crispy-bacon) I think it would be best to cook it separately and add it along with the strawberries and coriander once the pizza has cooked. I suspect the sauce and melting cheese might sneakily de-crunchify it otherwise. ;)
Another thing you could do is cook your bacon partially, I would do it too much.
Put in on the pizza and then bake in oven.
That way you could pat some of the grease away.
Let me know if it works.
Have a Joyful Day :~D
Charlie
I wouldn't do it too much.
Charlie
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