This easy white pizza happened when I was experimenting with a homemade pizza crust and realized I didn’t have a meat topping to put on the pizza. Oops! However, I had one pork chop left, so I seasoned it and on the pizza it came with three cheeses, fresh basil, kalamata olives and red pepper flakes. This accident turned out to be my husband’s all time favorite pizza. We do a lot here now!
Preparation:
To cook:
Level: Easy
Serves: 2
Ingredients
- 1 Thin Homemade or Store-bought Pizza Dough
- 2 tablespoons Olive oil, divided
- 1 Large boneless pork chop, butterflied
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp Dale Steak Seasoning
- 1 cup Whole milk ricotta cheese
- 4 ounces, weight Fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- ½ cups Pitted Kalamata olives, sliced
- ½ cups Grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons Fresh basil, julienned
- ½ teaspoon Red pepper flakes
Preparation
Prepare the pizza dough (see helpful tip), then set the oven to 425ºF.
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a small skillet over high heat. Season the pork chop with salt and pepper, then sear in the hot skillet for 3 minutes on each side. Be careful not to overcook it! Allow to cool slightly, then cut into small pieces. (Don’t worry if the middle is a little raw, it will finish cooking while it cooks on the pizza.) Toss the pork in a bowl with the steak seasoning, set aside.
While the pork sears, brush the pizza crust with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Bake for 4 to 5 minutes, or until edges are golden and crisp, but not brown.
Let the crust cool for a minute, then using the back of a spoon, spread the ricotta evenly all over the crust except for about 1/4 inch around the edges.
Sprinkle the seasoned pork evenly over the pizza, followed by the mozzarella, olives, Parmesan, basil and red pepper flakes.
Return the pizza to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes (15 minutes if not using a pizza stone), or until the mozzarella is melted and the edge of the crust is brown and crispy.
Garnish the slices with freshly ground black pepper, freshly grated Parmesan and, if desired, more red pepper flakes.
Helpful Tip: To get a perfectly crispy pizza crust that doesn’t tip over when picked up, I use a pizza stone. First, preheat the stone in a 450ºF to 500ºF oven. When you are ready to prepare the crust, carefully remove the stone from the oven and immediately drape the crust over it. Gently (and quickly) pull the scab off until it covers the stone, then cut off any excess (or pinch it off to create an edge around the perimeter.) Don’t touch the hot stone! (You can see the crust start to rise and darken – that’s good! This means the underside is cooked, which eliminates any sagging later.) Brush the crust with olive oil, return to the oven and bake for a few minutes, or until it turns golden. Remove the crust before it gets too brown, then continue with the rest of your pizza recipe.
