Potato Leek Pizza

There are a few things I have always wanted to cook with and leeks are one of them. So, when I saw the Potato Leek Pizza in the Pioneer Woman cookbook I was so excited to try it. My opinions on leeks? Delicious. My husbands? Not so much. Leeks are from the onion family and I am an onion person, he isn't so much. But it was still good.

What is really essential in this recipe is a mandolin. If you don't have one, go get one. It is an essential kitchen gadget and will save you so much time in the kitchen. Use it on the potatoes and leeks in this recipe.

Pioneer Woman provides her pizza dough recipe to use for this. I tried it and compared to the (one) other pizza dough I've made from scratch, it was great. But I like my pizza dough sweeter so I'm going to try a different one next time. I don't see any reason why you couldn't use a store-bought one. Also, I used cooked bacon instead of cooking it myself. What can I say? I have a baby and will find any excuse to cut down on some time.

For those of you with the Pioneer Woman Cookbook this recipe can be found on page 110.

Potato Leek Pizza

Makes 1 Pizza

1 Pizza Crust

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Kosher Salt

6 slices thick-cut bacon cut into 1-inch pieces (I used already cooked bacon)

3 Leeks, rinsed well to remove dirt, thinly sliced (I used the mandolin, and when it calls for 3 leeks--USE 3! You sautee them a little in this recipe and they really reduce down!)

5 small red or yukon gold potatoes, sliced paper thin (MANDOLIN TIME! I used red and they were delicious)

1 pound fresh mozzarella (I didn't use the whole pound, but leftover mozzarella? Who's complaining?)

4 oz. goat cheese crumbled (Now, I learned the goat cheese is expensive. 4 oz. cost me $5. I found the goat cheese to be good in this recipe but more or less inconsequential. If you don't want to stand the cost, go ahead and leave it off.)

Grated Parmesan Cheese

Freshly Ground Pepper

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Prepare your pizza crust, whichever you choose, and brush on some olive oil. Then sprinkle some salt on. I was rather generous with the salt, but I like salt. Fry the cut bacon over medium heat until it is cooked but not crisp, or do like I did and use already prepared bacon. Take the bacon out of the pan and set it aside. Pour off some of the grease from the bacon, but not all, and turn the heat to medium low. (If you use already prepared bacon, just get out a fry pan and put about 1-2 T. olive oil in the bottom and let it heat up to medium-low.) Add the leeks and sautee. Enjoy the delicious fragrance. Let them go for about 3 minutes, stirring often to prevent burning, and then remove. Notice that the leeks really reduced down and be happy you listened and cut three leeks down.

USing a mandolin or a sharp knife, slice the potatoes very thinly. Pioneer woman recommends doing this right before you are going to use them because potatoes go brown but I cut mine about 2 hours before cooking and they were fine. Arrange the potatoes on a single layer on the pizza crust, I let some of the edges overlap. Sprinkle the potatoes with some salt AND some herbs. Pioneer Woman does not have you do this but I found the pizza was a little bland without some kicking up. Some garlic or basil might be nice. Then lay slices of mozzarella on top. On top of the mozzarella sprinkle the leeks. The bacon goes on top of that, then the goat cheese. Oh deliciousness. Sprinkle some parmesan and pepper on top and pop that sucker in the oven.

Bake for 8 to 11 minutes or until the edges of the crust are golden brown and the cheese is bubbly. Serve immediately.

ENJOY!