Chicken, Bacon, Asparagus and Ricotta Pizza

Last time I made a "white pizza" it was good but not a fan favorite. Let me reassure you, this one was.

If I can remember correctly, I believe the spouse told me, "That was so good, I couldn't even talk," after he'd had just the first slice. 

For me, as much as I love a white pizza, I also have a deep love for tomato sauce. To solve that little dilemma here, all I did was serve the red sauce on the side. Excellent choice, if I may say so myself. 

Now I must also say, this pizza was work. Set aside about 2 hours from start to finish to make it...but don't be discouraged by that amount of time. It is so worth it. I guess you could go a little bit faster if you really tried. After all, I cleaned up as I went along and also unloaded the dishwasher and watched a Netflix documentary during the making of this pizza. You know if you want to watch a documentary, Netflix is the place to go.

So first, let us start with the crust. I didn't do my regular white/wheat crust because I wanted this one to be thinner and crispier. Although my usual crust is chewy and delicious, I was just in the mood to change it up. So I consulted a nearby cookbook called "Delicious Pizza." I thought, I can't go wrong with a title like that! 

I did a brief search for the book on Amazon, but I was not able to find it. Bummer. I guess all the delicious pizza secrets are not for sale! But the recipe for the crust was very basic...flour, water, yeast, sugar, salt and oil. I rolled it out thin, heated up the pizza stone, and then baked the crust for about 4 minutes on its own. That's right...the crust on the pizza stone - no toppings - and bake it for 4 minutes. You want crispiness, this is how you get it. 

Now get your toppings ready, hold your pants on, and prepare for some pizza making madness. 

Gather your ingredients:

• 1 15-oz container of ricotta cheese
• 1 clove fresh garlic
• 1 tbsp rosemary
• 5 strips of bacon
• 1 chicken breast
• Handful of asparagus spears (I used a package of frozen)
• 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese

To make it all so tasty and good:

• Pour the ricotta into a small mixing bow. Chop up the garlic into the tiniest pieces you can manage and add it to the ricotta. Add the rosemary into there as well and mix it all about. Let it sit while you do the rest so those flavors can mingle for a bit.
• Prep all the toppings. Heat the oven to 350. Arrange the bacon on one baking sheet and the asparagus on another. I added a little olive oil to my asparagus sheet to make it tastier and keep it from sticking. Pop those into the oven for about 20-30 minutes. I didn't set a timer, but just keep an eye on it until it's cooked the way you like it. I prefer my bacon and asparagus pretty crispy, so they were both in there for a while - the asparagus took a little longer than the bacon. 
• When they're done, chop the bacon into tiny bits, and cut the asparagus spears into thirds. 
• Heat a pan on the stove with a little olive oil, dice the chicken breast, and fry it up until it's cooked through.
• When the bacon and asparagus are done and the oven is empty, place the pizza stone inside and crank the temperature to 500. Now it's just a waiting game for the oven to get that hot. Go relax. Or do what I did and throw together a little Caesar salad to have on the side. You can also use this time to start heating up some red sauce...whatever kind is your favorite. I used some leftover homemade sauce I had on hand. 
• When your pizza stone is hot, take it out of the oven, and do what I told you to do before with the crust. Bake it, alone, for about 4 minutes. No toppings on it yet. Just a lonesome crust. This may cause some sections of the crust to bubble and rise. That's okay. Pop those bubbles and even out the surface again. You'll be able to do this because you're not cooking it all the way through yet.
• After those 4 minutes, take the pizza stone with the crust on it out of the oven and place it on your work surface. Spread the ricotta mixture onto it. You may not use all of it, depending on the size of your za. 
• Place the asparagus spears on top of that, followed by the chicken and then the bacon bits. Finish it off with just a touch of mozzarella and place that beauty into the oven for another 5 minutes or so. With the thin and now slightly crisped up crust, this will cook up in no time. It only took 5 minutes in my oven, but keep an eye on on it until it's cooked to your liking. 
• Serve with sauce of your choice on the side. 

You're going to want to dive into this ocean of pizza bliss long before it's done cooking. Actually, you may even be thinking of doing so during the bacon cooking phase. It's okay to munch on a little bacon, just don't eat all of it before za time.

If you're not a sauce lover like I am, feel free to omit it. Also if you want it a bit spicier, a bit of black pepper or red pepper flakes may suit your tastes.

I know, that looks like ketchup on the side. Now I do love ketchup, but as the old adage goes, there is a time and a place for everything. Mark my words - pizza time is no time for ketchup. That is tasty homemade pizza sauce.

Have a lovely time stuffing your face with this pizza excellence. I know I sure did!