This recipe will teach you how to make the perfect meat lover’s pizza, loaded with bacon, pepperoni, and Italian pork sausage!
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As we stated at the beginning of the year, we are really trying to master the art of pizza. Thankfully the Mastering Pizza cookbook has already taught us a lot. Today we want to share with you the first dough that we made from this amazing book: Al Taglio pizza dough. And if we doubted this book at all, all of those doubts quickly disappeared with the first bite of this amazing crust.
Not only does Mastering Pizza provide recipes for incredible doughs and pizzas, it breaks down the steps so well that we were able to make one of the best pizza doughs we’ve ever had on our first try.
This dough basically makes a focaccia-like thick crust pizza that is fluffy, chewy, and extremely flavorful.
And what better way to serve such a dough than with a meat lover’s pizza?
So why does this dough make the perfect meat lover’s pizza crust?
- Al Taglio dough creates a super thick and sturdy crust, so it’s a great base for heavy toppings
- Even though it’s thick and sturdy, Al Taglio dough is super fluffy and light on the inside, which perfectly contrasts the heavy, meaty toppings
- It is a comforting classic well deserving of all the carbs
And as always, we don’t want to make you use a specific dough for a pizza, but we promise this one is worth it. So please do yourself a favor before you keep reading and buy yourself a copy of Mastering Pizza.
Okay so now that your book will arrive shortly, let’s look at how to make meat lover’s pizza:
- Make Al Taglio dough from the Mastering Pizza cookbook about one day in advance
- Make a batch of our homemade pizza sauce, or take some out of the freezer like we do!
And then top with:
- Mozzarella cheese
- Bacon
- Pepperoni
- Italian sausage
It’s really that easy! Isn’t pizza wonderful? Always so simple yet so delicious.
But in case that doesn’t sound super simple to you, here are a couple tips and tricks to help you get started:
- Cook the sausage and bacon first (ideally you can make this pizza with leftovers for a super easy dinner).
- If you are making the Al Taglio dough, remember to prepare it the day before you want pizza! We use less yeast and let it ferment at room temperature for 12-36 hours (the cookbook explains this in detail). But beware, it takes about 2 hours to mix and knead this dough before letting it ferment, since you have to let it rest a few times for about 30 minutes at a time.
- Prepare our homemade pizza sauce ahead of time to make this dinner even easier. We love to make large batches of our pizza sauce and then store it in the freezer for later use (our half-cup Souper Cubes help us store and defrost perfect portions for pizza night).
- Bake the pizza on the middle rack of the oven, keeping an eye on it to make sure the crust browns and the cheese is bubbly but not burnt or over-cooked.
- And fair warning: this is a heavy, greasy, and meaty pizza; it will absolutely make you feel stuffed 🙂
Follow these steps and soon homemade pizza night will be a staple in your life too. For as much as Nicole and I used to love pizza, our Pizza of the Month is helping us learn to love pizza just that much more.
So whether it be for your next gathering, your next movie night, or in place of a Friday take out dinner, this Meat Lover’s Pizza is sure to be a hit with the whole family. We would love to see your pizza-making journeys, so please share with us on Instagram by tagging @candidcooksblog, and if you love this recipe as much as we do please rate it below!
Cheers!
Meat Lover’s Pizza
Equipment
- Sheet pan large
Ingredients
- ⅓ lb ground Italian pork sausage
- Pinch salt & pepper
- 8 slices bacon
- 10 pieces pepperoni
- 920 grams Al Taglio pizza dough* or store-bought
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup pizza sauce
- ⅔ lb shredded mozzarella cheese
- Flour for dusting
- Pinch sea salt
Instructions
- First, prepare the toppings. Add ground sausage to a skillet, season with salt and pepper, and cook over medium-high heat until browned; then drain and set aside. In the meantime, fry bacon over medium-high heat until crisped on both sides; then drain, chop into small pieces, and set aside. If using large pepperoni slices, cut into halves or quarters.
- Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Drizzle olive oil over a large sheet pan, then dust your work surface and your hands lightly with flour. Stretch out the dough on the floured surface into a large rectangle that's the same size as the sheet pan. Then transfer the dough to the sheet pan and adjust shape as needed to bring the edges of the dough to meet the edges of the pan.
- Top the dough with an even layer of pizza sauce, leaving about a half-inch crust around the edge. Then sprinkle shredded mozzarella evenly over the pizza. Top with ground sausage, bacon bits, and pepperoni.
- Sprinkle a pinch of sea salt over the pizza and bake until edges are crisped and cheese is browned and bubbly, about 18-20 minutes.
- Let cool for about 2 minutes before slicing with pizza wheel or large scissors. Slice into 12 squares and serve hot.
Notes
Nutrition
If you have any questions regarding the information presented in this post, please refer to our Nutrition Disclaimer here.
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