Bacon, Sausage, Jalapeno and Sriracha Pizza

Another fakeaway evening!!  Not really the fact of the matter is hubby and I pretty much are cooking for ourselves at the moment so it's our choice and doesn't have to be family friendly as such.  The kids are home, sort of, one is doing evening shifts at the local supermarket and has something quick after work.  The other, is caring for his partner who just had 4 teeth (2 molars and 2 wisdom) removed and cannot eat a great deal at the moment that requires chewing.  My gorgeous boy has gone out in sympathy with her and is eating soup and mashed potatoes (soft foods) with her.

Needless to say our choice tonight was pizza... Noel cooked his usual Margherita, which as usual was yummy and vibrant in flavour. I, of course, had to try something completely different and it was.

Firstly lets start with the dough.  Now over the years, we have experimented with many different pizza dough recipes.  Some good but too technical.  Others complete failures.  A lot of the time we use pita bread as the base as it's quick and easy and actually quite good for you if watching your weight.  But if you want a good pizza shop pizza base you need to make your own dough.  At the moment we are using a recipe we watched Poh make on her show Poh's Kitchen  which was aired on the ABC here in Australia.  It's very easy and tastes great.  That's really all that matters when it comes to the base.  You can try this or use what ever base you like.

Now for the pizza toppings.  As we all know pizza shops are pretty traditional with their menus.  Some have a gourmet range but other than the one or two specials most shops offer the same toppings.  I like to think outside the square and have spent many hours googling and scouring other blogs for different ideas.  I must say that I have read some pretty interesting gourmet ideas and some that just did nothing for my tastebuds!

I had some fresh jalapenos so I wanted to use them so I searched jalapeno pizza and it was incredible - all these new ideas.  But so many different versions on this pizza, Bacon, Sausage, Jalapeno and Sriracha Pizza.  So as always I just went with the idea and made up my own.  

Many of the recipes I read called for salami or summer sausage but I decided to use fresh Italian sausages.  I squeezed them out of the casing and made them into bite size pieces.  These tasty mouthful of fennel, garlic and chilli gave the pizza a really nice element and it was nice to bite into.

Fresh jalapeno has a different taste and texture from the pickled jalapenos you purchase in a jar.  Obviously they are fresh to start with but it's the texture, crunch and the unknown heat with are enjoyable - all without the vinegar taste.

It's no secret that we love to eat spicy food and somehow we seem to bring it into every cuisine where possible.  Sriracha Sauce is always on hand at our place.  It's hot and fantastic.  The combination of the jalapeno and Sriracha Sauce gave this pizza a definite kick - tastebuds tingling with every mouthful.  This along with the smokiness of the bacon, everyone loves bacon, the crisp onions, the cheekiness of the sausage and the gooey cheese made for a fantastic gourmet pizza!

The perfect fakeaway for sure!  We ate off the pizza tray and used napkins - very posh indeed!!

Bacon, Sausage, Jalapeno and Sriracha Pizza

Serves: 4 (2 slices per serve)
SmartPoints per serve: 12

1 serve pizza dough
cooking spray

1/4 cup tomato paste

50 grams  grated light tasty cheese

1 raw Italian sausage

4 slices shortcut bacon, cooked, chopped

1 brown onion, sliced

1 fresh jalapeno, sliced

5 button  mushrooms, sliced

2 bocconcini balls

2 teaspoon sriracha, or more or less depending on taste

Make dough according to the recipe you are following.

Preheat pizza oven to correct heat or a kitchen oven to 220 degrees Celsius.

Spray a pizza tray with cooking spray.  With wet hands stretch the dough over the pizza tray.

Take the end off each sausage to open casing.  Squeeze the filling out and break up into bitesize pieces.

Spread tomato paste evenly over dough.

Top with grated cheese, sausage, pork, bacon, onions, jalapenos and mushrooms.

Individually stretch the bocconcini balls and scatter on top of pizza.

Drizzle with sriracha sauce.

Place pizza in oven and Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and crispy at the edges, and the cheese is bubbly and brown.

Serve immediately.

(Click here for a printable version of this recipe)