Breakfast Pizza

I come from a family of pizza lovers! My parents would make homemade pizza with us when we were kids and it was always so much fun! When we didn't make our dough, we would buy it from Cacia's Bakery around 16th and Ritner in South Philly. My mom is a total bread snob and the crust is her favorite part of the pizza so it was imperative to have only the best dough!

My biggest complaint about homemade pizza was that it never cooked properly. We tried numerous pizza stones including one for the grill but nothing cooked the pies the way a brick oven would. I even started to look at plans for a outdoor brick oven. 

I was browsing through the Williams-Sonoma catalog one day and came across the Breville Pizza Oven. 

We purchased this oven and made our first round of pizzas that night. IT IS AMAZING! The best $150 ever spent! The only issue is that you are limited to about 12" pizzas and they have to be fairly thin and not over topped  because of the heating elements on the top lid. Getting homemade pizza right relies on cooking at a high enough temperature. This oven reaches 600 degrees and has an element both under and above the stone for even cooking. If you like crispy crust you need this! 

Dough Recipe

I recommend using Pizza Flour or 00 Flour for crust. I like Antimo Caputo 00 Flour, it can be purchased here. 

4 cups 00 flour
1 ½ cups, plus 2 tablespoons water
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry active yeast

Mix the dough in a stand mixer or by hand. If using a mixer start slow for 2 minutes, mix faster for 5 minutes, and then back to slow for 2 more minutes.

Put dough in a greased bowl and let rise for 1 1/2- 2 hours or until doubled in size. Once doubled punch dough down and push air bubbles out. 

Cut dough into 3 equal pieces.

Shape and roll dough into balls. 

Stretch the top of the ball down over the other side almost creating a tight skin around the ball. pinch either side closed and rest the dough seam side down under a damp towel or plastic wrap for 1 hour. f you aren't using your dough right away you can refrigerate until you need it. 

Roll out dough into round or square shape depending on which you prefer or what surface you are cooking on. If cooking on a stone I would suggest baking at 500 degrees. You can make your pizza on a sheet of parchment paper and put directly on the stone. Bake 3 or 4 minutes then slide parchment out from under pizza and continue baking until desired "doneness" is reached.

Breakfast Pizza

You can use your favorite dough recipe, the one provided above  or grab some store bought dough for the pizza.

Pizza Dough

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning Blend 

6 Slices Fresh Mozzarella, or 1-2 cups shredded Mozzarella or 6 Cheese Italian Blend (use more or less cheese depending on your taste)

4 Slices Prosciutto  or 6 slices Pancetta

2-4 eggs 

Parmesan Cheese

1 tomato slices

1/8 cup chopped fresh basil

Roll dough into a thin circle about 12" in diameter.

Coat dough with 1 tablespoon olive oil, garlic powder, salt, Italian Seasoning blend.

Top with cheese, prosciutto or pancetta, and Parmesan cheese. 

Crack desired number of eggs on top and carefully transfer into oven. (You can also poach or fry eggs and place on top of pizza when it is finished)

Top with tomatoes and fresh basil when pizza has about 2 minutes left to bake.

Bake 8-15 minutes depending on what medium you are cooking on. I find the best method to be checking periodically. 

I had some extra dough some meats so I made a Capicola, Prosciutto, and Cheese Flatbread also.

I used the same method of coating the dough with oil and seasoning. I used bout half of the amount of cheese and added the meat that I had left which was about 3 slices of each. I folded the dough over and baked in the pizza oven until crispy. The end result was a hit! 

Buon Appetito!

Pop-Pop's Peppers and Eggs: Pepper, Potato, and Onion Frittata

Pop-Pop's Peppers and Eggs: Pepper, Potato and Onion Frittata

I don't remember my pop-pop cooking a lot, but the few times I do remember he was making "peppers and eggs". The contents of this omelette or frittata really depended on what he had available. Usually the peppers were from his garden that he grew in the back "yard" of his row home in South Philly, sometimes he threw in tomatoes also grown out back. My favorite preparation was with red onion, red and green pepper, potato and a little grated cheese. 

Pop-Pop's "Peppers and Eggs"

6 eggs or 1 1/2 cups egg substitute

4 tbsp milk

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 green pepper diced

1 red pepper diced

1/2 red onion diced

1 large baking potato diced

1/4 cup grated Locatelli

1 tbsp olive oil

Dice vegetables, season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder and saute in 1 tbsp olive oil

 Once vegetables are tender remove from heat and allow to cool

Whisk together eggs milk, and grated cheese

Spread vegetables into greased pie pan and pour egg mixture on top

Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 25-30 mins

 Let sit for at least 20 minutes before slicing

Tips: You can get as creative as you would like with this recipe. I added 1/2 cup chopped broccoli because I had it. You could add meats, other vegetables or cheeses etc. You also could make as an omelette or scrambled egg dish. 

Buon Appettito!