Korean-inspired Pizza

Well I’m back, and I want to apologize fo my long hiatus.  But as you can imagine, I was on winter break and preoccupied.  This recipe actually comes somewhat from an experience I had while I was traveling to India this past December.  We always take Korean Airlines to India which means that we have a layover in Seoul, South Korea.  During our 3 hour layover there, my dad convinced me to get a kimchi noodle bowl.  It was just about the best thing I have ever put in my mouth.  Don’t get me wrong, I have definitely had kimchi before, but this just reminded me how much I loved it.

Then after coming back from India, I had my wisdom teeth out and was in front of the TV for a week which obviously meant I watched the Food Network.  On one show, a restaurant’s specialty was a Korean pizza.  It then clicked in my head that kimchi would taste delicious on a pizza with a few other ingredients, and I decided to make it as soon as my mouth was healed enough to enjoy it!

So with all that in mind, here is the recipe for Bacon Kimchi Pizza:

Ingredients

• 1 ball store-bought pizza dough
• Organic tomato sauce (about ½ of a 15 oz. can)
• Freshly grated low-moisture mozzarella cheese (about 2 cups)
• 1 cup kimchi, coarsely chopped
• 4 strips crispy cooked bacon, crumbled
• 3 scallions, root ends trimmed
• drizzle of sesame oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 500°F and place a rack in the lowest possible position. Lightly grease a pizza pan or rimmed baking sheet with non-stick spray or olive oil OR if you own a pizza stone, place it in the oven before you turn it on, and let it heat up.
2. Stretch pizza dough into a round shape large enough to fit your pizza pan or to fit on pizza stone. Use flour or cornmeal to make the dough easily slide from the wooden pizza board to the stone in the oven.
3. Start by spooning on the tomato sauce. Using the back of the spoon, spread the tomato sauce evenly over the dough. (Less is more when it comes to tomato sauce.) Next, sprinkle cheese then chopped kimchi and crumbled bacon over the pizza. Thinly slice white and light green parts of each scallion and scatter on the pizza. Thinly slice remaining dark green stalks on a bias and reserve.
4. Transfer pizza to the preheated oven and cook until the crust is golden brown (on a pizza pan about 11 – 13 minutes, on a stone 5-6 minutes). Remove pizza from the oven and let cool for a few moments.
5. Finish with a sprinkling of sliced scallion greens and a small drizzle of sesame oil. Cut pizza into even slices and serve hot.

Recipe adapted from kitchenkonfidence.com

Hope this encourages some of you to use delicious ingredients in new ways!  It certainly made me think out of the box! Enjoy!