Karl’s New York Style Hawaiian Pizza

I learned to make New York style pizza crusts a few weeks ago. Each batch makes enough dough for 2-3 pizzas. To keep things interesting, I usually make each one differently. This recipe is written to make enough sauce and toppings to make them all the same.

Son-in-law, Chris, cannot eat raw pineapple, but he can tolerate cooked pinapple. I decided that simply tossing the chunks of raw pineapple on top of the pizza might not cook them enough—as well as leaving puddles of juice covering the pizza. I decided to take slices of pineapple and grill them in the barbecue before cutting them into pits for the topping.

Note: Daughter Miriam is also having trouble with garlic lately, so I left it out of the sauce.

Karl’s New York Style Hawaiian Pizza

Ingredients

1 batch of Karl’s New York Style Pizza Crust

½ fresh pineapple, sliced
½ lb. Canadian bacon
1 lb. part-skim milk mozzarella, shredded

Karl’s tomato pizza sauce

1 Tbs. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed to a paste (omitted)
1 Tbs. tomato paste
1 can tomato sauce
2 tsp. oregano, dried
2 tsp. basil, dried

Directions

1. Un-bag your pizza dough and set it on your floured bread board to come to room temperature.

Tip: I store my dough in quart sized plastic bags to ferment for 3-5 days. To keep from mashing my dough I cut up the sides of the bag to free the dough intact.

Note: For directions on making the pizza dough see Karl’s New York Style Pizza Crust.

2. Set up your oven to your desired configuration and preheat it to 500º F.

3. Grill half inch slices of pineapple on the barbecue until they are cooked through and have nice grill marks on both sides.

4. Cut out the tough core and chop the pineapple into bits, reserve.

5. Cut each slice of Canadian bacon into 6 pie wedges, reserve.

6. Shape your dough into a pizza shapes and transfer them to a flour dusted  peels.

Tip: I use three cookie sheets, and an old flat steel sheet to remove the pizzas from the oven

7. Add the olive oil to a sauté pan over medium high heat and (if using) sauté the garlic until fragrant, about one minute.

8. Add the tomato paste and cook until it is starting to darken, about another two minutes.

9. Add the tomato sauce and deglaze the pan with it.

10. Stir in the herbs and simmer the sauce until it starts to thicken, another 4-5 minutes.

11. Let the sauce cool slightly and then spread about one third of it over each pizza round.

12. Scatter one third of the mozzarella over each pizza.

13. Scatter the pineapple bits and bacon evenly over the pizzas.

14. Bake each pizza for 8-10 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is browned on the bottom.

Tip: Rotate the pizza halfway through the cooking time to get an even bake.

15. Transfer the pizza to a wire rack to cool for a few minutes before consuming.