Put An Egg On It | Breakfast Pizzas with Bacon + Maple Lemon Drizzle
Raise your hand if you put maple syrup on your breakfast meat? (You can't see me, but my hand just shot straight up in the air). It's probably due to my incurable sweet tooth, but I've always been fond of the sweet and salty interplay of maple syrup on bacon or breakfast sausage. I decided to take this concept and run with it, applying it to a breakfast pizza, cause why not? I've never been one for traditional pizza for breakfast, although I know there are plenty of fans out there. But put an egg on it, and I'm satisfied to call that breakfast. Truth be told, I kinda surprised myself with how good this pizza is. The flavors are bright and well-rounded. Sweet, roasty tomatoes, salty, crispy bacon, nutty gruyere, rich, drippy yolks, earthy baby kale, and pow! Tart and sweet, slightly smokey lemon maple drizzle to top it off.
PUT AN EGG ON IT | BREAKFAST PIZZAS WITH BACON + maple LEMOn DRIZZLE
makes 4 individual pizzas
8 oz pizza dough, homemade or fresh store-bought (Trader Joe's is my go-to)
8 organic, cage free eggs
handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
8 strips nitrate-free bacon, cooked and chopped in half
2 c gruyere, shredded (fontina is great too)
1/2 c parmesan, finely grated
2 large handfuls baby kale or arugula
olive oil for drizzling
freshly ground pepper to taste
handful of fresh basil, finely chopped
maple lemon drizzle (recipe below)
For the Maple Drizzle
1/4 c pure maple syrup
juice of half a lemon
1/4 t smoked paprika
Make the Maple Glaze
Preheat oven to 500 degrees (or as high as your oven will go) and allow it to preheat once is comes up to temp for at least half an hour before baking pizza. If you have a baking stone, pop that baby in the oven to preheat too! While the oven is preheating, start the maple drizzle. Add all the ingredients to a small saucepan and allow to bubble and reduce on medium-low heat for 20 minutes, until the syrup has thickened slightly. Set aside while you make the pizza.
Make the Pizza
Divide the dough in fourths and roll each 1/4 out to desired thickness. Working with two pizzas at a time, arrange on a baking tray lined with parchment or your baking stone. Drizzle each pizza lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle on 1/2 c gruyere on each. For each pizza, add two strips (4 halves) of bacon, then layer on a handful each of tomatoes and baby kale. Bake for about 3 minutes. Take the pizzas out and crack 2 eggs on top of each and grind some fresh pepper on the eggs then sprinkle a little parmesan on top of each then return to oven to finish baking for 5 minutes or so, until the cheese is bubbly and melted and the whites of the eggs are just set. Remove from oven and sprinkle with fresh basil and drizzle with the lemon maple syrup.
