Clam And Bacon Pizza Food

CLAM AND BACON PIZZA

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 400°F.
• Grease a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Roll the crust out and press out slightly. Bake in the oven for 8 minutes.
• While the crust is baking, cook the bacon. Remove all the grease from the pan except 4 tablespoons. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the milk and cook until thickened and bubbly, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
• Remove the pizza from the oven. Top with the alfredo sauce. Add the clams, bacon and mozzarella. Return the pizza to the oven and bake an additional 6-10 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted. Sprinkle on the fresh basil.

WHITE CLAM PIZZA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Place a pizza stone or inverted rimmed baking sheet on the bottom rack.
• Mix the garlic and 1/4 cup olive oil in a small bowl. Knead the dough about 6 times on a lightly floured surface. Roll and stretch into a 12-inch round. Place the dough on a pizza peel, or another inverted baking sheet, dusted with cornmeal.
• Brush half of the garlic-oil over the dough; season with salt. Scatter the mozzarella and clams over the crust; drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the reserved clam juice and the remaining garlic-oil. Sprinkle with the oregano, parmesan, and salt to taste. Slip the pizza onto the preheated pizza stone or baking sheet (the cornmeal will help it slide off). Bake until the crust is light brown, 13 to 15 minutes.
• Just before the pizza is done, drizzle the arugula with olive oil and lemon juice. Slice the pizza; top each piece with arugula and season with red pepper flakes, if desired.

GRILLED PIZZAS WITH CLAMS AND BACON

Steps:

• Cook bacon in a large pot over medium-low heat until fat is rendered and bacon is crisp, about 10 minutes. Transfer bacon to a plate using a slotted spoon. Add oil, garlic, and onion to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 4 minutes.
• Add wine and clams. Bring to a simmer. Cook, covered, until clams open, about 5 minutes. Transfer clams to a plate using a slotted spoon. Discard any unopened clams. Remove remaining clams from shells.
• Strain cooking liquid through a fine sieve, and return to pot. Add cream, and cook over medium heat until thick and reduced to 1 cup, about 10 minutes. Add red-pepper flakes.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees (or heat grill to medium). Spoon 1/3 cup sauce over each grilled pizza crust. Top with reserved clams and bacon. Bake or grill, covered with lid, directly on grates, until sauce is bubbling, 5 to 7 minutes (time may vary slightly if grilling). Remove from oven or grill. Top with parsley, and drizzle with oil.

CLAM-CHOWDER PIZZA

Steps:

• Place a pizza stone or tiles on the middle rack of your oven, and turn heat to its highest setting. Let it heat for at least an hour.
• Put the clams in a large, heavy Dutch oven, add about 2 cups of water and 3/4 cup of the wine, then set over medium-high heat. Cover, and cook until clams have opened, approximately 10 to 15 minutes. (Clams that fail to open after 15 to 20 minutes should be discarded.) Strain clam broth through a sieve lined with cheesecloth or doubled-up paper towels, and set aside. Remove clams from shells, chop roughly and set aside.
• Rinse out the pot, and return it to the stove. Add butter, and turn heat to medium low. Add bacon, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat has rendered and the bacon has started to brown, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove bacon from fat, and set aside.
• Add the leeks to the fat, and cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, then add the garlic and half of the parsley. Continue cooking and stirring until the leeks are soft but not brown, about 5 minutes more.
• Stir in the remaining wine and approximately 1 cup of the reserved clam stock (save the rest for another use), and continue cooking until the liquids have reduced almost to syrup.
• Add cream and black pepper. Let the mixture come to a bare simmer, then allow to reduce and thicken, then add reserved clams and remove from heat. (You can do all this the day before you make the pizza, then refrigerate until ready to use.)
• Make the pizza. Lightly flour a work surface, and stretch or roll the dough into a 12-inch round. Place on a lightly floured pizza peel or rimless baking sheet. Using a pastry brush or a spoon, lightly paint the surface of the dough with some of the cream from the clams, leaving a half-inch border all around. Then top the pizza with the chopped clams, bacon and leeks, and the cheese. (If there is any remaining liquid, you can lightly - lightly! - drizzle the pie with it.)
• Shake the pizza peel slightly to make sure the dough is not sticking. (Gently lift any sections that are sticking, and sprinkle the peel with flour.) Carefully slide the pizza directly onto the baking stone in one quick, forward-and-back motion. Cook until the crust has browned on the bottom and the top is bubbling and browning in spots, about 7 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining parsley, the lemon zest and red-pepper flakes to taste, then serve.