Name: Caramelized Onion and Bacon Pizza
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 85 min
Total time: 100 min
Ingredients: 1 lb pizza dough; 4 slices uncooked bacon (cut into 1" pieces); 3 yellow onions (sliced 1/2" thin); 1 tbsp olive oil; 1 tbsp unsalted butter; 1 tsp salt; 5 sprigs fresh thyme; 3 cloves garlic (sliced); 1/2 lb gruyere cheese (grated); 1/4 lb yukon gold baby potatoes; 1-2 tbsp olive oil (for drizzling)

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Caramelized Onion and Bacon Pizza is not your average pizza. It has layers of sweet caramelized onions and gruyere cheese topped with tender potatoes and crispy bacon. A delicious way to mix up pizza night and serve something you'll be craving time and time again.

Caramelized Onion and Bacon Pizza fresh out of the oven

INGREDIENTS:

Pizza dough: Regular crust (vs. thin crust or Sicilian-style or pan crust) is best here but aside from that use whatever pizza dough is your favorite. I use a no-knead dough recipe from Half Baked Harvest Super Simple. You can also buy from your local pizzeria or grocery store.
Onions: Three onions seems like a lot, but in the caramelizing process they cook down rather substantially.
Garlic: I love adding garlic to caramelized onions. If you don't have garlic you can use garlic powder.
Gruyere cheese: Gruyere and caramelized onions are a classic combo. You can use mozzarella if you can't find gruyere. Grated fresh off the block is ideal.
Bacon: The caramelized onions get cooked in the bacon fat and the crispy bacon gets sprinkled over the finished pizza. It's so good.
Baby potatoes: Yukon gold baby potatoes get sliced so thinly on a mandoline and layered on the pizza for added texture.
Fresh thyme: Thyme gets added into the onions while they caramelize and melds with it so deliciously.

KITCHEN TOOLS YOU'LL NEED:

Chef's knife
Cutting board
Large heavy-bottomed sauté pan
Coarse grater
Full-size sheet pan (26" x 18")
Mandoline with ⅛" attachment

HOW TO MAKE CARAMELIZED ONION AND BACON PIZZA:

Step 1: Prep. Bring the pizza dough to room temp, slice the onions, grate the cheese, cut the bacon, and slice the potatoes.
Step 2: Cook the bacon. Add the bacon to your pan and cook over medium-high heat until crispy. About 10-15 minutes. Leave the bacon fat in the pan.
Step 3: Caramelize the onions. In the same pan that you cooked the bacon, reduce heat to medium-low and add 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter. Once the butter is melted, add in the sliced onions and stir to combine. Cook stirring occasionally for 10 minutes, then sprinkle in the salt. Cook for another 15 minutes and add in the sprigs of thyme. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes. Add in about 1 tablespoon water at a time if it starts to look dry. Then add in the garlic and cook for 5 more minutes.
Step 4: Assemble the pizza. Drizzle a light layer of olive oil on your baking sheet. Using your fingers or a rolling pin, stretch out the pizza dough just about to the edges. Drizzle with about 1 tablespoon olive oil. Layer half the onions down first, followed by half the cheese. Then layer on the rest of the onions followed by the rest of the cheese. Top with the potatoes and drizzle with a little olive oil. Bake at 425℉ for 15 minutes until golden brown and bubbly.
Step 5: Finish the pizza. When the pizza is done in the oven, finish by sprinkling with fresh thyme and the cooked crispy bacon.

WHAT ARE CARAMELIZED ONIONS?

Caramelizing onions is a process of cooking onions on a low heat for a long period of time. By cooking them this way, they become deeply golden brown, jammy, and addictingly sweet. The process overall takes about an hour, but is so worth it. You can use caramelized onions on grilled cheese sandwiches, soups, dips, and more.

HOW TO STORE COOKED PIZZA:

To store pizza, slice it into individual servings, wrap tightly in aluminum foil, and store in an air-tight container or bag in the fridge. It can stay in the fridge for up to 1 week.

You can also freeze pizza - follow the same directions as above and it will keep in the freezer for up to two months.

HOW TO REHEAT COOKED PIZZA:

Reheating pizza properly is key. The best method for doing so is using the oven. If it was in the fridge, preheat the oven to 350℉. and bake on a baking sheet for about 10 minutes. If it was in the frozen, preheat the oven to 374℉. and bake on a baking sheet for about 15 minutes.