I’m a huge fan of apple cider in the fall. And with arguably too many gallons of cider sitting around, I was trying to come up with some recipes to justify my zealous purchasing behavior. So why not make a fall harvest salad using an apple cider dressing paired with some other autumn ingredients?

This delicious salad is sure to be a hit with its blend of sweet apple cider, juicy pears, and candied bacon. A mix of fresh and peppery greens, this fall harvest medley is the perfect way to enjoy the best of the season. Plus, it’s nutritious too – packed full of vitamins and minerals that will keep you feeling your best.

As I’ve noted before in my fall flavor tier list, pecans and apples were some of my highest-rated flavors. And they are definitely included here. So, make the best use of your apple cider and enjoy the best flavors of fall.

Fall Harvest Ingredients

What makes the ultimate fall salad? In my mind, it starts with the greens themselves. Then include some of the fruit of the season. Then a lot of the rest is kind of just by feeling or things we tend to associate with the autumn harvest. Whether you’re whipping up a nutritious fall salad or an autumn harvest salad, these ingredients are must-haves! Make sure to include these ingredients in your fall dishes!

Spinach and Arugula

Spinach and arugula are a classic combination that will make your salad delicious and nutritious. Both greens are a great source of vitamins and minerals, so you know you’re getting a dose of healthy goodness. And they’ll add a flavorful and peppery crunch to your salad too.

A lot of salad greens grow best in spring and fall – typically not fans of the hot summer months. So you should be able to find some fresh salad greens at your local farmer’s market. To make the ultimate fall salad, make sure you’ve got plenty of spinach and arugula on hand.

Apples and Cider

Apples are now made available year round but they typically are picked in the fall. Apple cider (not to be confused with its alcohol-containing cousin) is typically made in the fall during the harvest but it doesn’t have the longest shelf life because it is unfiltered. So it has become synonymous with the season. Apples are a great addition to any salad, providing a crunchy texture and a hint of sweetness. Choose your favorite variety to include in your salad – I went with Envy apples.

Pears

I always forget how much I love pears. Like apples, they come into their own during the fall. So this season is the best time to get some truly delicious specimens. I ended up using red anjou for this recipe, but feel free to use whatever variety you prefer or can find locally.

Make the Dressing

The idea that started it all, an apple cider dressing. When I tried to search around for an apple cider dressing it seemed that most of them included only apple cider vinegar. But I wanted something more. So I came up with this recipe for a dressing to make the ultimate fall salad. Basically just adding apple cider in with some generic vinaigrette ingredients.

Start with some quality extra virgin olive oil. This is the base of the vinaigrette so don’t go with the super crappy stuff if you can avoid it. But, you also don’t need to buy a $150 bottle flown in from Spain or Greece to your door. Though I guess I’ve never tried that, so maybe it would be more delicious.

Anyways. I like making salad dressings using my small Nutribullet blender because the container sizes just seem to be perfect for me. You can use any blender or food processor and you can even just put the ingredients in a jar and shake them up – you’ll just end up with some loose diced shallot pieces and the dressing will split sooner. A blender or food processor seems to almost emulsify the oil and vinegar so it takes much longer to separate in my experience.

Obviously, we need some apple cider to make an apple cider dressing. I also tossed in some apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, lemon zest, honey, shallot, and Dijon mustard. Then some salt and pepper to finish it off. Just your basic vinaigrette ingredients to let the apple cider shine.

Then just blend, process, or shake until everything is combined.

Prepare the Ingredients

Washing, cutting, shredding, prepping. Salads are simple but still take a little bit of preparation.

Wash Spinach and Arugula

With the bounty of fall harvest ingredients now gathered, it’s time to prepare them for the salad. Let’s start with the spinach and arugula. You can use a colander or a nifty salad spinner to wash and dry your mixed greens. Now, you’ve got clean, fresh greens to use as the base of the salad.

Cut and Shred

Grab a sharp knife and cutting board, and let’s get slicing and dicing. We’ll start by cutting the spinach and arugula leaves into bite-sized pieces (there’s nothing worse in a salad than greens you can’t fit in your mouth after picking them up – especially when coated in dressing, especially with a big beard that gets covered…). We’ll also need to slice the pear and apple. Then shred the fontina cheese.

Cook Wheat Berries

Wheat berries add a wonderful nutty chewiness to the salad. Their unique texture really helps elevate this dish. But they do require a little bit of prep work. Though most wheat berries are harvested in the summer, I made the executive decision to include them in this fall harvest salad. Mostly because they feel like more of a fall ingredient than a summer one. I dunno.

I bought these hard red spring wheat berries from Amazon to make this salad. You may also be able to find some at your local store.

Cook them according to the package instructions. Mine called for a little salt with the water, bringing them to a boil, and then turning them down to simmer for about 30 minutes (I simmered them a little longer for more tender wheat berries).

Topping the Autumn Harvest Salad

The salad toppings really make this fall harvest salad delicious. The apple and pear, pecans, fontina cheese, dried cranberries, wheat berries, and candied bacon make a delicious combination that’s sure to be a hit. Flavors and textures combine to make this nutritious fall salad unforgettable. Together, they make for a yummy autumn harvest salad that will keep you cozy and satisfied in the cooler weather.

Starting with the cheese, the goal is to add some creaminess to this salad. I chose fontina cheese for a mild flavor and soft and creamy texture that complements the salad perfectly. This is one ingredient that can easily be substituted with a different cheese without changing the salad too drastically. Mozzarella and muenster would be similar to fontina. You could also go for some different flavors – the tang of blue cheese or the saltiness of feta.

As fresh fruit, the apple and pear slices add some crispy juiciness to the mix. Dried cranberries are a pop of tart-sweet flavor that sit as almost a surprise present when uncovered in the salad. The prepared wheat berries add some more texture to the salad bringing chewiness with a light nutty flavor.

And speaking of nutty flavor, we’ll add in some toasted pecans for good measure.

Candied Bacon

Now let’s top off the autumn harvest salad with something special – candied bacon! Yes, you heard that right.

I made my own candied bacon recipe specifically for this salad. So of course I would highly recommend following that recipe for making this salad. What makes it great for this salad is the addition of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves with brown sugar for candying the bacon. This gives even more hints of the fall season, which really makes this the ultimate fall salad.

You can of course use a different candied bacon, and you could even use regular bacon. It will lose a little bit of the magic but still taste pretty good.

Serving Fall Harvest Salad

This salad is packed full enough that it could be a meal all on its own. But it could also be paired as a side with a different entree or accompanied with some sides of its own to round out a dinner.

Adding Some Sides to this Nutritious Fall Salad

I think this autumn harvest salad could pair perfectly with some kind of bread. Bake your own loaf or try my mom’s dinner rolls recipe or my pillowy softy puffy pitas. Bread is great with salads since it provides you a vehicle with which to sop up every last bit of remaining dressing. And of course, you will want to do that with this homemade apple cider dressing. Trust me.

You could also not go wrong with an additional side of tasty veggies. Roasted green beans, asparagus, or squash come to mind. Or try it with some home-fried pita and spanakopita dip. It is delicious.

A soup and salad combo is classic, so try this out with your favorite fall soup.

Using the Ultimate Fall Salad as a Side

As a fall-themed dish, this bed of mixed greens could be served with a lot of the other main dishes of the season. If you want to use this as an accompaniment, try any of the following:

• Thanksgiving Sage Roasted Turkey
• Rodda Family Three Cheese Lasagna
• Orange Maple Soy Glazed Salmon
• Dr Pepper and Pineapple Glazed Spiral Ham

With a few simple steps, you can create a delicious and nutritious fall salad in no time. Whether you’re having it as a side dish or the main entree, it is sure to please. Plus, the dressing adds just the right touch of sweetness and flavor to make it memorable. So, don’t miss out on this amazing autumn harvest salad!

How did yours turn out?

I’d love to hear when you try out this apple cider fall harvest salad! Take a pic of your food and share your success with me by adding it to your Instagram stories or feed, and tagging me @doyouroux, or by using #doyouroux.

Plus, leave a rating to let me know how you liked the recipe. It helps me out a lot to know how things worked out… or didn’t.

Apple Cider Fall Harvest Salad

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: Salads, Main, SidesDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking timeminutes

Total time

15

minutes

Tantalize your tastebuds with this delicious ultimate fall harvest apple cider cinnamon salad – a nutritious autumn treat!

Ingredients

• Apple Cider Dressing

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

• 1/4 cup apple cider

• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

• 2 tablespoons honey

• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon diced shallot

• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest

• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

• Fall Harvest Salad

• 4 packed cups spinach

• 4 packed cups arugula

• 1 apple, sliced

• 1 pear, sliced

• 2/3 cup whole toasted pecans

• 1/2 cup chopped candied bacon

• 1/2 cup shredded fontina cheese

• 1/3 cup prepared wheat berries

• 1/3 cup dried cranberries

• 1 batch of apple cider dressing (from above)

Directions

• Apple Cider Dressing
• Combine all dressing ingredients together in a small blender, food processor, or bottle/jar with a lid
• With a blender or food processor, pulse for three 5-second intervals until smooth; with a bottle or jar, shake vigorously until combined – note that the shallot will not be fully blended without using the blender or food processor
• Refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 5 days
• Fall Harvest Salad
• Wash and dry the spinach and arugula
• Roughly chop the spinach and arugula, slice the apple and pear, chop the candied bacon, and shred the fontina cheese
• In a large serving bowl gently toss together all of the ingredients except for the dressing
• Serve and top individual bowls with the dressing

Notes

• For convenience you may substitute regular bacon for the candied bacon, but do note that the addition of the candied bacon really kicks this salad up a notch
• Simply choose your favorite apple and pear varieties, all of them will be delightful
• As a side dish, this would be more like eight servings

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This recipe comes once again from inspiration while visiting and eating at Mythos Restaurant at Universal’s Islands of Adventure in Florida. My frozen butterbeer, fried potato and onion strings, and steak with gorgonzola butter recipes have all come from trips to Florida to go ride rollercoasters. Add spanakopita dip with fried pita to the list.

Pretty soon I’ll be recreating all of the food from our visits there, I guess. A way to enjoy it without spending as much money on travel. Though I don’t yet have a rollercoaster available in my backyard…

The Greek-inspired appetizer dip is loaded with flavor.

The simple spinach and feta spanakopita dip is a perfect appetizer for parties or simply served as an appetizer at home. This Greek spinach dip recipe is easy to make. Spinach, feta cheese, and cream cheese are the main ingredients that come together in this tasty Greek spinach dip that is super delicious and perfect for snacks!

I love the tanginess that goes with the spinach and feta combination. Make sure you have some extra pita bread lying around. So, let’s get started.

What Is Traditional Spanakopita?

Spanakopita is a traditional Greek dish. The name comes from the Greek words meaning spinach pie. Very aptly named because it typically consists of thin layers of filo or phyllo dough, chopped spinach, feta cheese, onions, and eggs.

Filo is a thin dough used for making pastries like baklava and börek. An egg wash makes it crispy and golden brown on top.

Baked until the outside is golden brown and crispy, the inside of the spanakopita should be delicate and cheesy.

The result is a flaky crust and a soft filling. It is normally cut and served in a triangular shape, but it can be served as a square or in any other shape.

It’s almost like spinach, feta, and filo lasagna.

What Goes Into Spanakopita Dip

To make traditional spanakopita into a dip, we’ll use the same general building blocks and adjust it as needed.

So, of course, we’ll keep the spinach and feta. Trade in some shallots for the onion and add garlic, lemon, and dill for even more flavor. The tangy, salty flavor of the feta will be the main focus.

To turn it into more of a dip, we’ll include some cream cheese. Greek yogurt and sour cream help to smooth things out even more. This makes it actually dippable.

And then we need something to replace the filo. Something we can use to scoop up and eat the spanakopita dip itself. That’s where the pita comes in. But this recipe takes things over the top and uses some fried pitas for dipping. Mmmmmm.

Cheeses to Use in Spanakopita Dip

I’m trying to recreate a recipe from a restaurant and don’t know their exact ingredients or proportions. So it takes some experimentation and educated guessing.

The traditional cheese for spanakopita is feta. So, to keep the original soul of spanakopita in the dip, we’ll use feta as the main cheese in this recipe. Feta doesn’t melt especially well, so it’ll need some other assistance to get to a perfect super-smooth dip consistency.

For that, I turned to my other dip-making experience with cream cheese dill dip. The cream cheese in that recipe is what really helps make the dip smooth and

Cream cheese is perfect because it doesn’t have an overpowering flavor of its own. It has great consistency and could easily take on the flavors we want. So feta and cream cheese are the cheeses of choice.

How to Make Spanakopita Dip

Start with a lot of fresh spinach. Lots of it.

Chop up the spinach along with the garlic and shallots. Sautee the garlic and shallots in olive oil over medium heat. Once the shallot is nearly translucent, it’s time to add in the spinach.

It’ll seem like too much at first, but it will cook down into a much smaller amount. Believe me, I had to up the amount of spinach two times while trying to get the right ratios for the recipe.

Stir it around until the spinach is cooked and wilted.

Once the spinach has cooked through, add in the feta, cream cheese, sour cream, Greek yogurt, salt, and pepper. Mix it all together as it warms up and the cheese fully melts together. It should be a fairly smooth mixture. Make sure that the cream cheese melts down.

For a final punch of flavor, toss in the dill, lemon juice, and lemon zest.

Give everything a good stir and it is ready to go.

How to Fry the Pita

Pitas are fairly easy to make and delicious in their own right. But, taking them one step further and frying them really takes them to the next level. Frying the pitas makes them crispy on the outside and still soft and tender on the inside. But – most importantly – frying makes them strong enough to use for dipping into the spanakopita.

I highly recommend that you make your own homemade pitas using my pillowy-soft puffy pita recipe. But you can use whatever recipe you like, or store-bought pitas if pressed for time.

To get to frying, start by slicing the pitas into wedges. I use a pizza cutter because I’m essentially cutting them exactly like a pizza.

Add a 50-50 mix of olive oil and vegetable oil to a slightly deep pan up to about half an inch up the side of the pan. Turn the heat to medium-high and let it warm up.

Then gently put enough sliced pita wedges to fill most of the pan, with a bit of space between. Cook them for 2 to 3 minutes and then use some tongs to flip them and cook for another 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Remove them from the oil and onto a paper towel-lined plate.

Sprinkle salt and za’atar seasoning over the fried pita wedges.

Repeat until all of the pita wedges are fried.

Garnish and Serve the Spanakopita Dip

With pitas fried and spanakopita dip made, it’s time to serve and eat.

This recipe works best as an appetizer, set out so everyone can enjoy it at their leisure. You may want to use some method to keep the spanakopita dip warm, depending on how long it’ll be out. A small food warmer (I have a mini Crock Pot warmer) or a chafing dish would work.

You can serve the dip as is, or try topping it with fresh minced dill, toasted pine nuts, a drizzle of olive oil, or some freshly shredded parmesan.

Now, obviously, I really enjoy using these homemade fried pitas to dip into the spanakopita dip. It comes from the initial recipe at Mythos and just tastes divine. But don’t feel like that boxes you in. Try pairing this dip with pita chips, other chips, carrots, celery, or anything else that you think will suit the spinach and feta flavors.

How did yours turn out?

I’d love to hear when you try out this spanakopita dip! Take a pic of your food and share your success with me by adding it to your Instagram stories or feed, and tagging me @doyouroux, or by using #doyouroux.

Plus, leave a rating to let me know how you liked the recipe. It helps me out a lot to know how things worked out… or didn’t.

Spinach and Feta Spanakopita Dip with Fried Pita

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: AppetizersDifficulty: Intermediate

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

30

minutes

Total time

40

minutes

A creamy spanakopita dip with crispy pita chips makes an appetizer everyone will love!

Ingredients

• Spanakopita Dip

• 1/2 cup chopped shallots

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 6 cups fresh baby spinach

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1/2 cup cream cheese

• 1 cup feta cheese

• 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt

• 1/4 cup sour cream

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon minced dill

• Fried Pitas

• 4 cooked pitas

• Olive oil and vegetable oil for frying

• 1/2 tablespoon za’atar seasoning

• 2 teaspoons kosher salt

Directions

• Spanakopita Dip
• Chop the shallots and spinach, and mince the garlic
• Add the olive oil to a pot over medium heat, stir in the shallots and garlic, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes until fragrant and the shallots are nearly translucent
• Stir the chopped spinach into the pot and continue stirring while the spinach cooks and wilts
• Add the cream cheese, feta cheese, Greek yogurt, sour cream, salt, and pepper to the pot
• Stir the mixture and heat through for 5 to 7 minutes until the cheeses have melted together
• While the cheeses are melting, zest and juice the lemon and mince the dill
• Remove the pot from the heat and mix in the dill, lemon juice, and lemon zest until fully combined
• Keep the dip warm while frying the pitas
• Fried Pitas
• Heat a 50/50 mix of olive oil and vegetable that comes to 1/2 inch up the sides of a deep pan over medium-high heat
• Slice pitas into triangular wedges with a knife or pizza wheel
• Working in batches, gently add the pita slices to the hot oil and fry for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden, be careful not to overcrowd the pan
• Remove the fried pita wedges from the oil to a paper towel-covered plate to drain and generously sprinkle with salt and za’atar seasoning
• Repeat steps 3-4 until all pita slices have been fried
• Serve the spanakopita dip with the fried pita

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I know it is only just barely April, but I’m kind of already looking forward to summer. This kiwi mango smoothie recipe makes a refreshing drink that you can enjoy any time of day to add a bit of summer flair to your life.

The tropical essence of mangoes, kiwis, and pineapple all bring some bright fruity flavor to this drink. And all that happy tropical partying in your cup is a blast of summer. Blend it up in a cool beverage and it is *chef’s kiss*.

I love love love mango but hate dealing with the pits. And so, I go hard on the frozen mango. Which works perfectly in a smoothie where it’s all blended together. Just check out my orange creamsicle smoothie for a blended drink that hides some mango within.

You have to have flavors that complement each other well in a smoothie. And that is what this fruit combo brings.

This delicious smoothie has just the right amount of sweetness. Smooth and creamy, it’s the perfect way to get your morning started with a bit of sunshine.

Kiwi Mango Smoothie Ingredients

A smoothie is a wonderful treat, and there are basically infinite combinations available. With kiwi, mango, and a few other key ingredients, we can make this tasty, healthy drink.

There are many smoothie recipes out there, but this recipe is unique in its simplicity. This green smoothie recipe uses three main ingredients. A blend of mangoes, pineapple, and kiwis lend the bulk of the flavor.

You can find frozen mangoes and frozen pineapple at most grocery stores – though I’ve had a tough time finding frozen pineapple in stock lately. It’s been difficult to find for making this recipe or my pina colada.

Kiwi and spinach give the green to this green kiwi mango smoothie recipe. Spinach is smoothies does some heavy lifting for both the nutrients and color in the drink. But it does the perfect job of staying hidden in the background with basically no taste change at all when added.

For the milk in the recipe, I used 1% dairy that I usually have on hand as my go-to gallon of milk. But you can easily substitute whatever dairy you prefer to use and it shouldn’t change the flavor much.

Smoothie Prep

This recipe uses frozen mangoes and pineapple. Make sure that you use some frozen fruit. This helps make smoothie prep easier and it also lends iciness to the drink. If you use fresh fruit, you’ll end up with a smoothie that’s more watery. You can use frozen fruit straight from the freezer. It’s ready to use right away.

You’ll also want a powerful blender on hand to make sure that you get things perfectly smooth. I love my Vitamix, and it just seems to pulverize anything I throw at it.

Prep your ingredients. Before you begin to make the smoothie, it’s a good idea to get everything out and ready to go. Then get out your blender and start filling the container with all of our fruity goodness.

Finally, you’ll need to measure out the smoothie ingredients you’ll need or you can always just eyeball it like I tend to do. Then dump them in the blender and turn it up.

I typically layer everything in the blender in a specific order. Liquids first, then any fresh fruits and vegetables, and then finish it with frozen fruits and ice. This seems to help everything blend easier with fewer air pockets around the blades.

Serving Your Kiwi Mango Smoothie

Once you’ve made the smoothie, it’s time to enjoy it.

I recommend drinking the smoothie right away. The longer you wait, the more it will begin to melt. You can put the smoothie into the freezer to save it for later, but it will freeze and lose the consistency of a fresh drink.

You can also garnish the smoothie with some cut fruit as a bit of decoration. Let’s face it – we’re kind of used to fruity drinks being dressed up and presented in a pretty glass.

So bust out your finest glassware and get to drinking your summer flavors straight from a cup.

How did yours turn out?

I’d love to hear when you try out this kiwi mango smoothie recipe! Take a pic of your food and share your success with me by adding it to your Instagram stories or feed, and tagging me @doyouroux, or by using #doyouroux.

Plus, leave a rating to let me know how you liked the recipe. It helps me out a lot to know how things worked out… or didn’t.

Green Kiwi Mango Smoothie

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: Breakfast, DrinksDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

5

minutes

Cooking timeminutes

Total time

5

minutes

A quick and easy green kiwi mango smoothie recipe that you can make in under 5 minutes for a tropically-charged drink.

Ingredients

• 3 kiwi fruits

• 1 large apple

• 1 cup milk

• 1 cup packed spinach

• 1/2 an orange

• 1 cup frozen pineapple

• 1 cup frozen mango

Directions

• Add all of the ingredients to a blender in the order listed
• Blend until smooth, then pour and serve

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The post Quick and Easy Green Kiwi Mango Smoothie Recipe appeared first on Do You Roux?.

I’m dreaming of a white pizza, cause it already seems like it will probably be a white Christmas here. And pizza tastes better than snow. Unless maybe you’re at Bahama Bucks for some shaved ice.

Anyways, while working on the post for how to caramelize onions, I remembered this pizza. I was coming up with recipes that would use the caramelized onions and had the eureka moment. And it had been a very long time since I had made the pizza. Which is unacceptable with how delicious it is. So now I bring you this delicious combination of dough, sauce, and toppings.

The first incarnation of this recipe comes from my mom many years ago. While on a trip to Utah to see family she had a white pizza at The Pizza Factory. She loved it. But once she was back home, she wanted to recreate it. So she got to work and made her own version from how it was in her head.

And then it got interpreted again. Because this here is not exactly her recipe. It is my take on what she did. I loved the white pizza and hadn’t really had a non-red sauce pizza before she made it at home. It was a whole new world that I decided to dive into.

White Pizza Toppings

You can really customize this however you’d like. A lot of things taste great on a white pizza. This can make it really great for having people over because you can have everything ready to go and just let people choose their own toppings. But this combination below goes extremely well together.

• Cheese – The cheese obviously makes the pizza. This one uses a combination of fresh mozzarella, a block of mozzarella, and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Using too much of the thick slices of fresh mozzarella seems to overload the pizza. But I like cheese everywhere so I shred a block of mozzarella to sprinkle over top and in between. Then the shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano is a finishing touch on top.
• White Garlic sauce – For this, you essentially make a garlic béchamel sauce using a roux with some garlic and parmesan added for flavor.
• Chicken – Cooked and chopped beforehand, I prefer to use some marinated and grilled chicken but had to improvise for this one since I didn’t want to go out and grill in below freezing temps. So I used a grill pan on the stovetop. You can use whatever chicken you’d like – rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken from another recipe could work here.
• Bacon – Salty. Fatty. Cooked crisp and crunchy. I crumble the slices of bacon once they are cooked to sprinkle over the pizza.
• Caramelized onion – The inspiration for posting this recipe came when I was making caramelized onions. These lend a complex mix of savory and pop of sweetness to the recipe that helps balance some of the other toppings.
• Spinach – Wilted in a bit of olive oil, this lends some greens to the pizza and another texture to the mix.
• Pine nuts – These take on a toasted quality that brings out their crunch and buttery flavor when cooked on the pizza

Assembly and Baking

To put the pizza together, I find it helpful to set all the toppings out in bowls around where I will roll out the pizza dough. You can kind of see this in the photo above. Then after rolling and pre-baking, it is easy to grab a little of each and sprinkle it around to top it just how you like.

Below is a little before and after photo comparison slider for what the pizza looks like before and after baking.

To bake, you want your oven as hot as it will go. With my last oven, it was only 500°F, and I don’t think that it actually got that hot inside. While testing this recipe in the new house, I realized this oven went to 550°F (290°C) and it seems to actually reach those temperatures. The new one is also gas which likely affected how it cooked for me. But the dough came out perfectly crispy with a nice crunch as I rolled my pizza wheel through to cut slices.

For this recipe, I tried flipping the pizza crust after the initial 2 to 3-minute pre-bake and then putting the toppings on the side that was originally the bottom. This really helped the crust fully cook and crisp, even with the fresh mozzarella that tends to put out a lot of moisture while cooking.

Things will tend to get messy and you may feel like a flour monster attacked you and your kitchen, but it is fairly easy to clean up. Maybe you are neater than my sous chef and I are when in the kitchen. A damp rag or paper towel is usually enough to wipe things down. And, of course, it is much easier to clean up after having eaten some delicious homemade pizza.

Chicken Bacon White Pizza

Recipe by Marc PetersonCourse: EntreesDifficulty: Intermediate

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

25

minutes

Cooking time

35

minutes

Total time

1

hour 

Chicken, bacon, caramelized onions, and a deeply garlic sauce make this pizza stand out from the norm.

Ingredients

• Pizza dough for three 12-inch pizzas (this Serious Eats recipe is my go-to and gets the perfect amount, but it takes 24 hours to rest in the fridge, so prepare ahead)

• Garlic Béchamel Pizza Sauce

• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 3 tablespoons flour

• 1 cup milk

• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

• 2 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated

• Pizza Toppings

• 24 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced about 1/4″ thick

• 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded 

• 2 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped (or about two cups chopped rotisseries chicken)

• 4 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled

• 1/2 cup caramelized onions

• 2 handfuls of spinach, sautéed in 1 tablespoon olive oil for 5 minutes

• 1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shredded

• 1/4 cup pine nuts

• 6 large basil leaves, cut in a chiffonade or long, thin strips

Directions

• Garlic Béchamel Pizza Sauce
• Add garlic, butter, and olive oil to a sauce pan over medium heat
• Stir to melt the butter and sauté the garlic for 2 to 4 minutes until garlic is fragrant
• Mix in the flour to combine and stir while cooking for 3 minutes
• Whisk in milk, heavy whipping cream, and 2 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano until fully combined
• Heat the sauce until thickened, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes
• Remove from heat
• Pizza Assembly
• Preheat the oven to 550°F (290°C)
• Prepare all pizza toppings and have them easily accessible for putting on the pizzas
• Take a portion of dough for one pizza and roll it out on a floured surface to 12 inches in diameter
• Place the dough on a pan or pizza stone in the oven and cook 2 to 3 minutes until no longer doughy
• Remove from oven and flip the pizza crust over
• Top with fresh mozzarella, shredded mozzarella, chicken, bacon, caramelized onions, spinach, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and pine nuts – but do not overload the crust
• Put the topped pizza back in the oven for 5 to 7 minutes until cheese is melted and edges are golden brown
• Remove from the oven, sprinkle with sliced basil, and let cool
• Repeat steps 3-8 for remaining dough and toppings
• Slice and enjoy

Notes

• To reheat any leftovers (if that ever were to happen), just preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and put the slices in for 5 to 7 minutes until the bottom is hot and you hear everything sizzling

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