BPP Pizza

Last night’s beautiful Arizona sunset. No filters, no Photoshop, just pure natural beauty!

This quick and easy pizza has some of my favorite Italian ingredients and they can all be found, along with the pizza dough, at Trader Joe’s.

Burrata, a luscious cream-filled fresh mozzarella cheese.

Pancetta, Italian-style bacon, already diced into “cubetti” pieces. Actually, I don’t know if the word “cubetti” has anything to do with the diced pieces, but it is convenient!

Prosciutto, this package is actually from Costco and was in my freezer, so don’t be alarmed with the “use by” date. Prosciutto can always be found at TJ’s too.

I prefer Trader Joe’s whole-wheat dough, but while pulling a package from the back of the case (looking for the freshest bag – a selfish little thing I always do with freshly packaged food) I accidentally grabbed the plain dough. The reasons I like the whole-wheat better are two-fold, it is easier to work with due to the texture and I think the taste is superior.

The only other ingredients you need are a little olive oil, a medium ripe tomato, and a smidgen of freshly ground black pepper and red pepper flakes.

Burrata, Pancetta and Prosciutto Pizza

1 pound fresh whole-wheat pizza dough
4-ounce package diced pancetta
1  1/2 teaspoons olive oil
8-ounce package (2 balls) burrata cheese
1 ripe medium tomato, thinly sliced
Freshly ground black pepper
Red pepper flakes
4 slices prosciutto
Fresh minced chives, for garnish

Preheat oven to 500 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat mat.

Remove the dough from the package and stretch out lightly, place on the prepared baking sheet and let rest while you cook the pancetta.

Cook the pancetta in a hot skillet until crisp. Drain on paper towels.

Use your hands to stretch and flatten out pizza dough to fit the baking sheet. Brush the dough with olive oil.

(Note: I’ve found that there is no need to use flour when working with the whole-wheat dough. On the other hand, the plain dough is much stickier and more elastic, so you’ll need flour and you’ll also have to let it rest several times between “stretches.”)

Remove the burrata from the water it is packed in and pat dry with a paper towel.

Carefully slice each ball of cheese while holding it in your hand over the pizza dough. This prevents the loss of any of the cream in the center. Evenly distribute the slices over the dough.

Sprinkle the cooked and drained pancetta over the cheese.

Top with the tomato slices and a little freshly ground black pepper.

Bake the pizza in the preheat oven for 12 minutes or until the crust is cooked through. If you’d like the crust to get a little more color, heat the broiler to high and broil for a minute or two, watching closely so as not to burn.

While the pizza is baking, take each slice of prosciutto and twist it as shown.

Cut each twisted slice into 10 or 12 pieces.  When the pizza comes out of the oven, evenly distribute the prosciutto pieces over the pizza and sprinkle with red pepper flakes, to taste. Garnish with fresh chives, if desired.

Cut into slices and enjoy.

Makes 1 pizza