This pizza started out as sushi. Well, sort of.
After getting my roots done this week (just in the nick of time) I hit the bookstore to try and find the latest issue of my favorite foodie inspiration Donna Hay magazine (to no avail) and ended up soaking in a few other publications (rags) instead. Mila and Ashton had their baby! Get ripped abs in 10 easy steps! Theresa and Joe go to jail! Celebrity beach bodies gone wrong! Who wore it best? For sure, she did!
Ugh, why did I wander away from the food magazines?
Afterward, I walked over to Whole Foods to cure my craving for lunch-on-the-go-sushi. Instead, I left with a new craving and all of the makings for this pizza.
Back in the day when I had an out-of-the-house-job (I’m not going to call it “when I had a full-time job” because what I do now is definitely full-time+++), Whole Foods was right across the street from my office. It made bringing lunches from home far too hard to pull together when I could simply hit the crosswalk button and dodge the bad drivers who always ran the turn light for a lunch pit stop at the Whole Foods sushi counter.
Spicy tuna rolls with avocado and brown rice with a lime flavored Italian sparkling mineral water. That was my ritual.
So after my bookstore run I had a rekindling of those office work days and paid a visit to the WFM sushi counter.
But my sushi intentions were spoiled, because they were giving away samples of pizza. THIS pizza.
So I bought up all of the ingredients, minus the apples since I have a crisper full after over-zealously purchasing at the farmer’s market, and said “see ‘ya” to the sushi dude then came home and made me a pizza.
Thinly sliced apples soaked in maple syrup and topped with roasted garlic and blue cheese and gooed up with melty cheese. And bacon! All on a soft, supple, finally-I-cooked-it-perfectly pizza dough.
About the recipe:
While I usually make my dough from scratch, I saved myself some lunch break time and used the store-bought variety. You’ll only use half of the dough for two 4-slice pizzas so save the rest for killer garlic rolls and stuffed pizza rolls.
I also considered roasting my own garlic, simply because I love the aroma in my kitchen, but with time of the essence, I cruised the olive bar and BOOM! I had 3 heads of roasted garlic in under a minute.
I was super happy to see my WFM carrying a Wisconsin-bred blue cheese from Roth Kase. Stinky cow’s milk cheese makes me happy.
The apples are soaked in maple syrup before going on the pizza. Be sure to thinly slice the apples so they soften as they cook in the 8-10 minutes it takes for the pizza to bake. Then drizzle a little more syrup on the finished product for that bit of sweet to compliment the salty bacon and blue cheese.
I usually use a ceramic pizza round to cook my at-home pizza but this time around I borrowed form my mom’s version of homemade pizza and used a baking sheet. Just like we used to do as a kid.
Maple Apples, Blue Cheese and Bacon Pizza
PrintIngredients
- Store-bought or homemade pizza dough
- 2 small apples , thinly sliced
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- 12 ounces shredded Italian blend cheese
- 4 slices cooked bacon , cut into thick pieces
- ½ cup roasted garlic cloves
- 3 ounces blue cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
- Place the sliced apples in a small bowl and pour the maple syrup on the sliced apples and set aside.
- Divide the pizza dough ball into 4 sections, reserving half of the dough for another use. Stretch the dough and place on a small baking sheet, working the dough into a rectangle. If the dough springs back, let it rest for a few minutes then continue to spread it into the corners of the baking sheet.
- Layer the dough with half of the shredded Italian cheese then top with slices of the apple, half of the bacon, garlic cloves and chunks of blue cheese.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden. Drizzle with additional maple syrup, cut and serve immediately.
Now that’s lunch. Happy dining, friends.
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Cindi
What kind of apples did you use?
Any sweet apple is delish, such as Envy, fuji, or honeycrisp.
Kristina
I Will do it at weekend. I go to my friends for a party. It will be super cool to bring Such pizza.
Stephanie Kaiser
We make pizza every Friday night and we’ve been rotating this recipe in for at least the last year. It is SO GOOD! We were definitely skeptical the first time, but it’s probably one of our favorites now.
Happy to hear you all enjoyed!
Savvy
Really fantastic combination of flavors!
Hayley
Thank you, we’re so happy you enjoyed it!
Kristy Cline
I came across this interesting recipe and I realized I had all the ingredients. I took a chance on these unique flavors and we ( my husband and I) were not disappointed! This pizza recipe is definitely on our favorite list! Thank You for sharing this delectable dish!
Happy you both enjoyed Kristy!
Patricia
Made this for Easter Brunch and gobbled it! Prepped everything Saturday night; we returned from busy morning (music for two festival services), assembled the pizzas and drank our Mimosas while they baked. Easy, fun, delicious and just enough (with random basket candy) to tide everyone over until proper dinner. Many thanks.
Kamisha A Umbarger
Love this! Easy and full depth of flavor in little time. I substituted gorgonzola cheese for the Bleu. Delicious!
Jasmine
This was amazing. I didn’t drizzle with extra syrup because I was worried about it getting soggy. I used mozzarella slices and Parmesan and it was really excellent.
Ashley @ Foodie Crush
Sounds so good! Thanks for sharing!
JoAnna
This looks amazing but the kids won’t try blue cheese. Any recommendation for a cheese substitution?
Ashley Sorenson
Something a little more milk like Feta would be great!
Chelle
Do you repeat the layers? I’m confused by you only saying to use half? Do I do half, then repeat?
Janie
Chelle, I am wondering the same thing. I’m thinking that perhaps she is going to use the other half on the rest of the dough??? I know I won’t get a response in time as I’m making the pizza right now. Guess I will just have to eyeball the ingredients in relation to the pizza and figure it out from there. :)
Hi and sorry for the confusion. I divided the full portion of dough into 4 sections, reserving the other 2 sections for another use. So you end up with two smaller personal pizzas, hence why you save half of the ingredients for the other portion. Thanks for giving it a try!
Elyse Siegel
Hi there!
My name is Elyse Siegel and I’m the managing editor for a new site called Spotlight. We cover lifestyle, which includes food and recipes. We love Foodie Crush. If we link to a recipe on your site — in this type of round-up http://readspotlight.com/mac-and-cheese-recipes/ — can we use your images?
Thank you!
Elyse
Diane
Holy YUM! Made this for dinner tonight. I am in HEAVEN!! DEElicious!
Audrey
We have an italian blog of movie+recipes and we just mentioned this interesting recipe of an american style pizza!! We loved it! http://www.nonsolopizzaecinema.com/2016/05/whiplash-e-la-pizza-americana.html
April Yocum
This pizza is the best I have ever had. It’s perfect!!!!! I just made it tonight and hid the rest from my family so I could have it for lunch. lol
Lori in Maine
Hey Heidi! I have been wanting to try this pizza for a while now but the hubster wasn’t as enthusiastic as I was. We finally made it together last night and guess what? He will be doing the “OH-MY-GOODNESS-I-AM-IN-HEAVEN-THIS-IS-FANTASTIC-AMAZING-DELICIOUS-CAN-WE-MAKE-IT-AGAIN-TOMORROW” Apology Dance for the next 12 months:) Thank you for sharing. This pizza rocks!!
Awesome Lori! So glad it was a winner all the way around the table.
bev @ bevcooks
Yes x 293478243.
maigrir 2000
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Kelly
I love this pizza combo! Pinning now!
Alice @ Hip Foodie Mom
oh my gawd, Heidi . . this pizza. . be still my heart. LOVE!
Kelli @ The Corner Kitchen
As much as I truly love sushi, a pizza like this will win everything single time! This is one amazing pizza, Heidi!!
Jessica @ A Kitchen Addiction
This is my kind of pizza! Love the flavors!
Chloe Crabtree
Looks wonderful! What a great combination of flavors. This would be a perfect treat to serve with drinks with friends!
Millie l Add A Little
I love the sweet salty, creamy, crispy combination in this pizza – so perfect!
Matt Robinson
One of my favorite pizzas ever, love it! Great pics!
Michelle @ Healthy Recipe Ecstasy
This is a drool-worthy pizza. I used to not be a huge fan of blue cheese but lately it’s been all I think about because it goes so well with fall flavors! I will definitely be making this!
Laura (Tutti Dolci)
Love this pizza, perfect for fall!
Yolonda
OMG! My mouth is watering. Sounds delicious!
amanda @ fake ginger
This looks AMAZING. I wish I had all the ingredients right now!
The Chardonnay Kitchen
I have bacon, blue cheese, and farmers market peaches in my fridge right now… and caramelized onions….. I think you have solved my dinner dilemma for the night :)
Nikohl
That’s what I was actually thinking too!! Haha
Tieghan
This is my kind of pizza 100%/ The the apples, the bacon and that blue cheese!!
Sandy @ ReluctantEntertainer
Heidi-girl. I’m so happy when I come to your site. This is MY kind of pizza! xo
Ah Sandy, I love it when you do too and vice versa :)
Erin | The Law Student's Wife
Clearly, the heavens wanted you to make this pizza! This is my fall happy dance on the crust.