Pizza with Roasted Brussels, Bacon, & Roasted Garlic Cream

Am I the only one who cannot wait for daylight savings?

I am in dire need of one more hour of daylight each day. Yes, it’s been better these past few weeks, but still! It’s depressing when the day ends at 5 pm. It makes me sleepy.

I’m looking forward to all things spring. Longer days, milder weather, the smell of food grilling away outside, and eating lighter.

In the meantime, I’ll continue to cozy up with the comfort foods we all know and love. This pizza is topping my list at the moment. It’s all my favorite things in one bite.

Dough, cheese, bacon, brussels, roasted garlic, and cheese. My kind of pizza.

I’ve already ranted on and on about my love of brussels, but really, bacon and brussels were meant to go together. I feel like each one makes the other better. How can anything make bacon BETTER, you ask? Try it with brussels. You can thank me later.

The roasted garlic cream is my way of changing up the tune of classic white pizza. Instead of using the raw garlicky flavor that we often associated with white pizza, I decided to roast the heck out of it to tone things down a bit. The sweet and savory flavor of roasted garlic is one of the best on this good earth, if you ask me. I love it deeply golden and super soft. So soft that you can spread it on bread. Yum.

I’m so in love with this pizza, I am half-tempted to run out to the store right now to buy more brussels so I can make it for dinner tonight. It’s incredible.

So good.

 

Pizza with Roasted Brussels, Bacon, & Roasted Garlic Cream         (makes 4 servings)

For the Roasted Garlic Cream:

1 head of garlic, halved

Olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon flour

1 cup of milk, warmed

½ cup freshly grated pecorino cheese

Salt and pepper

 

Pizza dough (I use the dough from this recipe)

1 cup of roasted brussels sprouts, halved

4 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled

2 cups grated fontina cheese

Fresh thyme, chopped

 

For the Roasted Garlic Cream:

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Place the head of garlic on a piece of tin foil, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and wrap up to form a bundle. Roast in the oven for 35-45 minutes, or until the cloves of garlic are soft and caramelized. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before handling. Raise the oven temperature to 475°F and place a pizza stone (if using) in the oven.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, whisk in the flour and cook for a minute. Very slowly whisk in the warmed milk. Whisk constantly until the mixture begins to thicken. Stir in the cheese until melted. Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of the skins and into the sauce. Whisk to combine and then remove from heat. Allow to cool.

 

To assemble:

Roll the pizza dough out to desired thickness and shape. Place on a pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal (if you’re not using the pizza stone/peel method, just roll out onto a greased baking sheet). Spread the roasted garlic sauce evenly over the dough and then top with most of the grated fontina. Evenly distribute the brussels and bacon over the top and then sprinkle with a little more fontina cheese. Finally, sprinkle the fresh thyme over the top.

Transfer the pizza to the preheated oven/stone and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the crust is crispy and beginning to brown and the cheese is bubbly and browned in spots. Remove from oven, allow to cool for a few minutes, and then slice and serve!