Potato and Leek Pizza

My parents gave me The Pioneer Woman's cookbook for Christmas and I've just now gotten around to trying one of the recipes. I first went through the cookbook when I was super hungry and EVERYTHING looked good, but later when I went through on a more discerning stomach I was surprised that the Potato and Leek Pizza is what jumped out at me the most. I guess I shouldn't be that surprised. Like an elementary school student, my favorite food is pizza.

Brett, of course, was wary. He wasn't sure if he liked leeks, and he definitely wasn't sure that potatoes belonged on pizza. I think bacon, and the fact that I had already purchased the ingredients, swayed him to agree.

We joked about what Brett's dad, who is a very traditional "Meat Lovers" pizza guy, would say. Since he can't even fathom pineapples on a pizza, this one would surely leave him flabbergasted.

Brett and I split duties. This is my favorite way to cook. There's less work and someone to keep you company. And it goes so much faster!

He was in charge of the bacon (I don't like the splattering.)

And as much as I love our mandoline, Brett is better at getting it to cooperate. He's figured out that if you don't attach the sliding hand grip to the mandoline that it works a lot better. He sliced the red potatoes as thin as the mandoline would allow.

I wanted to see if I could see through them. I could not.

I was in charge of the leeks, which needed chopping and washing. I sloshed the chopped leeks around in a bowl of water to get rid of all the dirt that gets trapped between the leaves. Brett was not the only one who got to use a fun kitchen gadget. I got to dry the leeks in the salad spinner!

I also mixed up a batch of our favorite pizza dough and sauteed the leeks in some of the bacon grease.

I was so excited to get started on constructing the pizza that I forgot two pretty important steps. I didn't poke the pizza crust with a fork so that it doesn't rise in the center and I didn't put the pizza peel under the dough before adding the toppings. But of course I didn't realize either of these at the time.

We drizzled olive oil, put a single layer of potato slices, and then sprinkled some salt all over the pizza.

Next came the mozzarella cheese, leeks, crumbled bacon, and fresh ground black pepper. Pioneer Woman also adds goat cheese and parmesan cheese, but we decided to leave those off. It looked so pretty!

Then we realized that we had forgotten the pizza peel and tried to shimmy it underneath without disturbing the toppings too much. One side of the pizza did end up a little balder than the other.

When it came out of the oven I realized that I had forgotten to poke holes in the dough. The center had risen up and spilled some cheese off onto the baking stone.

The final verdict was that we liked it. The texture of the potatoes was kind of weird at first, but not at all bad. Brett said the leeks were fine. I thought they were wonderful. And of course the bacon and cheese were the best parts. I did notice that this kind of pizza is more filling than a traditional pizza. I could only eat two pieces instead of my usual three. Overall it was a success!