Breakfast Pizza

Husband-Tested Recipe from the Kitchen of Alice Wootton

Oh, Ma Ma! Was this ever good!!

There were some lovely quail eggs for sale at the Orange County HomeGrown Farmers Market this season. I purchased some because they were just so beautiful! (See photo of the eggs I bought.) The rest of the ingredients I purchased at my favorite store in the whole world, Lost River Market & Deli. I had some Whole Wheat Pizza Dough in the freezer, so I decided to make a breakfast pizza on the grill. I thawed the dough in the fridge the night before, then all I had to do was roll it out and top with the ingredients. You could certainly use regular hen eggs for your breakfast pizza too. The measurements are approximate because pizzas are pretty forgiving. If you are lucky enough to find quail eggs, here's a little advice. Crack the quail egg on the side of the bowl. Then carefully poke the tip of a sharp knife through the crack to break the membrane (which is pretty tough...tougher than a hen's egg membrane) and then the egg will slip right out without breaking the yoke.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough (recipe follows)
4 Tablespoons olive oil

3 hen eggs or 6 quail eggs, break the eggs into small individual bowls or cups so that they will easily transfer onto the pizza
1 fresh tomato, thinly sliced
2 cups shredded mozzerella cheese
1/4 of a small onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup small red pepper, thinly sliced
2 cups fresh baby spinach, sliced
a few Tablespoons of Local Folks Pizza Sauce or your favorite pizza sauce
a few slices of Capocolla ham or Proscuitto, or substitute a few bacon strips. If using bacon strips, cook them until crisp.

Prepare pizza dough in advance. (I made this dough about a month ago, put it in the freezer and then thawed it in the fridge the day before making this pizza.)

Brush grill grate with olive oil. Preheat grill.

Sprinkle a board or the counter with flour. Roll out the pizza dough. When the grill is hot, carefully lay the dough on the grill. Meanwhile, prepare the pizza toppings (chop, slice, shred and measure out topping ingredients.) Place the toppings on a tray and set the tray next to the grill.

When the dough is browned and crisp on the bottom (which is actually the pizza top) flip the dough over using tongs. Brush the dough with olive oil. Spread the pizza sauce in a thin layer over the dough. Sprinkle with cheese. Add the rest of the ingredients. Slide the eggs onto the pizza.

Close the grill lid and allow the pizza to finish cooking. The pizza is done when the bottom of the dough is brown and crisp, the cheese is melted and the eggs are cooked sunny side up.

Using tongs, slide the pizza onto a cutting board. Use a large knife or pizza wheel to cut into serving pieces.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough:

1 cup warm water (100-110ºF)

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 envelope dry yeast

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

½ teaspoons salt

Combine water and sugar in food processor. Sprinkle yeast over; let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. Add oil, then flour and salt. Process just until dough comes together. Knead on floured surface about 5 minutes. Add flour if needed. Lightly oil a large bowl. Add the dough; turn to coat with the oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then a towel. Let the dough rise in warm place until doubled, about an hour. Punch down dough. Knead in the bowl about 2 minutes. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll and stretch out dough (dough will be very elastic) on a floured surface to a 9” shape. (*Dough can be made ahead frozen. Just spray PAM inside a large Ziplock bag. Place the dough inside the bag and seal shut. Thaw in the refrigerator. It will rise in the fridge.) When in a pinch for time, you can use store-bought refrigerated pizza dough.