Goat Cheese Pizza

If you were to ask me what my favorite cheese is, I'd immediately say goat cheese. Some people are turned off just by the name, but it's just cheese made with goat's milk rather than cow's milk and tastes like a savory cream cheese. There's really nothing wrong with goat; I've even had goat curry before.

Going through my California Pizza Kitchen Cookbook, I found a goat cheese pizza. It's almost vegetarian because it has bacon, but I'm sure you could omit that and make it all veggie. Or even sub mushrooms. Upon reading the recipe, I thought this pizza would be a little... weird (for lack of a better term) because there is no sauce. You just brush olive oil on the crust. I was surprised since I was expecting it to be dry. The olive oil definitely helps, but the toppings give it such a powerful flavor profile, you don't miss the sauce. As far as the dough, CA Pizza Kitchen does give their recipe, but I was busy and tired, so I made the one I usually make in my bread maker.

Goat Cheese Pizza



Dough for 9 inch pizza
Olive oil
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup crisp bacon, crumbled
1 plum tomato, sliced
Red, yellow, and green bell pepper strips (roughly 15-20)
Red onion strips (roughly 10-12)
2 Tbsp mild goat cheese

1. Preheat oven to 475F. Grease pizza pan.

2. Brush enough olive oil onto rolled-out crust to make a light coating. Sprinkle on 1/2 cup mozzarella. Sprinkle with 2 Tbsp bacon. Place tomato slices on top - do not overlap. Top with pepper and onion strips. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella on top. Crumble on goat cheese.

3. Bake until crust is golden and cheese is bubbly, 10-15 minutes. Remove, slice, and serve.

Makes one 9-inch pizza

Source: California Pizza Kitchen Cookbook, p. 48