Do you love pizza? My husband does. And as a die hard teenage mutant ninja turtle fan, I too love pizza. Fireworks pizza in Leesburg, is his favorite spot for his favorite pizza. Its a wood fired pizza with gargonzola, bacon and a balsamic reduction. Since I love a challenge…I tried to recreate it at home. It was a SUCCESS! Here’s how you too can have a fancy pizza for dinner.

Start off with pizza dough. Let’s be real here, if you wanted to cook this for dinner tonight, you would have bought pizza dough. Because that’s what I did, from trader joes. 

Flatten it out. Really thin. I like to make two pies from one bag of dough to ensure a thin crust. Then I bake it slightly, without toppings, to make dinner ready, faster without worrying if my dough is cooked all the way through. While you do this, cook 6 slices of bacon until most of the fat is rendered out. Don’t cook all the way through though!

Slice half an onion into these ringlets (is that what they are called?) and caramelize them…in.the.bacon.fat. 

Sauce up your pizza crust. Again, store bought pizza sauce from trader joes. He’s the man.

A little mozzarella to give a good base.

Bacon. You probably don’t need a picture of every step, but I was going to make it into an animation, then changed my mind.

Caramelized onion rings.

Pockets of gargonzola, that will melt into gooey deliciousness. Bold statement from someone who does not like any time of bleu cheese.

Something different, but works well. Shrimp. medium sized, pre cooked. Top it with a little more mozzarella and sprinkle of fresh rosemary. Because it works. Bake for about 7 minutes. Drizzle balsamic reduction… throw it back in there for another 3 minutes. Serve hot.

 Smokey Bleu Fancy Pizza
Ingredients
1 packaged of ready to cook pizza dough
6 bacon slices
1/2 sweet onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup of pizza sauce (more or less depending on how saucy you like your pizza)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup of Gorgonzola crumbles
20 medium cooked shrimp
1 TBS fresh rosemary, chopped
Balsamic Vinegar reduction/Glaze

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450F. Roll out the pizza dough into a nice thin crust. Bake for 5 minutes, flip then bake for another 5 minutes. Pull it out and set aside to cool.

Cook the bacon strips until ALMOST done. Most of the fat should be rendered out. Set aside on paper towels to remove excess grease.

Assemble the pizza. Tomato sauce, mozzarella, then the additional toppings. Sprinkle a little rosemary at the end, then bake for 7 minutes. Drizzle balsamic glaze and pop it back in for another 3 minutes.

ENJOY!