Skip the lines and get cozy with brunch at home

Stay-In Brunch Pizza

by Peggy Paul Casella

I developed this recipe for those mornings when I wake up craving brunch food, but the thought of getting out of my pajamas, piling on woolly layers and schlepping through the snow makes me want to hide under the covers till spring. With bubbly cheese, eggs, thick-cut bacon and a zippy chimichurri sauce, it’s a comfort-food flavor bomb that you can make at home.

Bacon, Egg and Cheese Pizza with Chimichurri Sauce
Makes one 12-inch pizza

Ingredients
For the chimichurri sauce:

• 1 ½ packed cups roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves and stems
• 2 small to medium garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

For the pizza:

• 4 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
• 1 pound ball pizza dough, homemade or store-bought
• 3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 4 large eggs
• Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives or scallions

Directions
Preheat the oven to 500 F with a rack in the middle position. Lightly coat a heavy-duty, rimmed baking sheet or pizza pan with olive oil.

To make the chimichurri:
Combine the parsley, garlic, vinegar, salt, red pepper flakes and a grind or two of black pepper in a food processor. Pulse until everything is finely chopped. Then, with the motor running, gradually pour the olive oil through the feed tube until it is completely incorporated. Scrape the chimichurri into a small bowl or ramekin and set it aside to marinate at room temperature.

To assemble and bake the pizza:

1. Place the bacon in a medium skillet over medium heat and cook until it just begins to crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and transfer the bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate.
2. Stretch or roll the dough into a 12-inch disk and place it on the prepared baking sheet or pizza pan.
3. Crack the eggs into separate, small prep bowls or ramekins. Scatter the cheese over the dough, followed by the bacon. Drizzle the cream evenly over top, then carefully slide the eggs onto the pizza, an inch or two inside each corner. Season lightly with salt and pepper (remember that you’ll also be seasoning the pizza with the salty, garlicky chimichurri sauce just before serving).
4. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake until the crust is golden, the egg whites are set and the yolks are still a little squishy, 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Remove the pizza from the oven. Let it rest for 5 minutes, then drizzle with the chimichurri sauce; slice and serve. (Or, if you like, slice up the pizza and serve the chimichurri on the side.)

Peggy Paul Casella is a cookbook editor, urban vegetable gardener and the author of the blog Thursday Night Pizza and the forthcoming “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pizza Cookbook.”