Strawberry Balsamic Bacon Pizza

Ok, I know this sounds weird, but stick with me.  Admittedly, I am not the biggest lover of traditional pizza, but this pizza, I absolutely adore.  The sweet-spicy sauce is a perfect complement to the savory chicken, the salty bacon, and the juicy strawberries.  This is a great summer pizza--when we starting being able to get strawberries at a decent price again, I knew right away I needed to make this pizza again.  Now, I do prefer my pizza with really thin crust so the cooking time and everything is based on that, but obviously feel free to do thicker crust and adjust accordingly.

Strawberry Balsamic Bacon Pizza

Time to Prepare: 45 minutes (when using already prepared pizza dough)
Number of Servings: 4 (two 10-12" thin crust pizzas)

• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup strawberry jam
• 1/2 tsp sriracha
• 1 ball of pizza dough (I used half of this recipe)
• 1 cup cooked, chopped chicken
• 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 4 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 oz freshly grated Parmesan
• 2-3 Tbsp minced cilantro
• 1/2 cup slivered strawberries

Heat the balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, and let cook until reduced by about half (around 4 minutes).  Whisk the strawberry jam and the sriracha into the balsamic reduction and set aside.

Move your oven rack to the lowest position, place your pizza stone on hit and heat your oven to 500 degrees.  You want the pizza stone to be in there for about 30 minutes so it gets nice and hot. 

Divide your dough into two pieces.  Roll one piece out into a circle about 10-12" in diameter.  Spread half the sauce over the crust.  Top with half the chicken, bacon, red onion, cheeses, cilantro, and strawberries.  Transfer the pizza to the stone and bake until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is browned, about 10 minutes.  Repeat with remaining dough ball, sauce, and toppings.

Produce Used: Red onion, cilantro, strawberries
Source: slightly adapted from Annie's Eats