Friday is pizza night. I’m not talking about the pizza you call and get delivered or, going out to eat with the kids pizza (not that there is anything wrong with that). Friday night we do pizza night at our house! This week, I am thrilled to bring you a new fun twist on pizza: Cobb Salad Pizza.
I eat a lot of carbs thanks to all the recipe testing that I do. Going to the gym is not only a necessity for my back but also the waistline. I feel guilty every time I eat them too. Good thing I mostly keep carbs at bay during lunch. By looking at my Instagram feed, you’d think all we eat is carbs! Not really… but I do test a lot of carb heavy recipes and baking items. I also test recipes on Thursday nights during our breakfast night! 
Back to the pizza. The pizza came from this salad I ate… 4 months ago! Seriously. I hold ideas in my head for that long… and much longer. I loved the toppings on it so much that I barely touched the lettuce!
I know there are many ways to make a Cobb Salad. This is my ideal version. Swap out the lettuce…. put it on a pizza…and it’s Cobb Salad Pizza!
You can switch up the ingredients for your favorite ones, use butter lettuce instead of hearts of romaine, even put arugula on it. Whatever you do, do not omit the hard boiled egg and bacon… they are staples! 
Take a load of this bite. The pizza is secondary… but the dough… oh.the.dough. Delicious. And the crust you say? Worth fighting for. 
Cobb Salad Pizza
This pizza is for the topping-lover in all of us. Sweet, salty and the unexpected is all that forms this pizza. Don’t worry, the crust is so amazing you’ll begin stealing someone else’s.
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 mins
- Yield: 4
Ingredients
Dough:
- 1 1/8 cups warm water (about 120F)
- 3 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
Pizza
- 1 cup favorite pizza sauce
- 1 1/2 cups mozzarella
- 4 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped
- 4 hard boiled eggs, chopped
- 1/2 cup frozen corn
- 1/3 cup black olives, sliced
- 1/4 cup blue cheese, crumbled
- 2-3 romaine lettuce leaves, shredded
Instructions
Dough:
- In a small bowl, combine warm water, yeast, honey and olive oil. Give it a mix with a spoon and let it sit for about 10 minutes for the yeast to activate. Once you see about 1-2 inches of “froth” the yeast is done.
- In a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer, add the flour (I reserve 1/4 cup for kneading or if the dough is too sticky, I add it in) and salt. Mix it well. Slowly add the frothy water and mix it (either with your hands or the paddle attachment) until you can form a “dough” ball. Slowly add in the reserved 1/2-1/4 cup of flour and do a final knead with your hands.
- Four your countertop. Place dough on your countertop and give it a thorough quick knead. The dough shouldn’t be super sticky or rock hard. Good pizza dough should have a “brand new play-dough” consistency… and even that might be too dense.
- Rub the same bowl with olive oil then place the dough inside, give it a turn or two so it’s also coated with olive oil. Cover with a towel and place in a warm place to rise for about 1-1 1/2 hours.
- After dough has risen, punch it down. Transfer it to a floured surface and knead it a couple of times to form a large ball of dough. Divide dough in two even portions.
- Preheat oven to 375F (see notes below about pizza stone and high temperature).
- Using a rolling pin, roll out one of the balls of dough on to a floured surface. Transfer it to a floured baking sheet or pizza paddle (if using a stone).
- Spread pizza sauce on to base leaving a 1/2-inch border all the way around. Layer cheese over sauce and begin to distribute half of the toppings evenly: hard boiled eggs, bacon, corn and black olives. DO NOT put blue cheese or lettuce on -yet.
- Bake this first pizza in the oven for about 25 minutes, until edges are golden and have risen. Remove immediately and top with blue cheese crumbles and shredded lettuce.
- Repeat this process while pizza is baking with second dough.
Notes
Baking Sheet Directions: you can oil a baking sheet and spread all of this dough in a large cookie sheet. If you do this, you will be making one huge rectangular pie. Baking sheet goes in at 375F for about 25minutes.
Pizza Stone Directions: I like to use my pizza stone in a high heat / short cooking time settings. I bake this at 500F for about 10-12 minutes. You can, of course, use your stone at 375F for 25ish minutes.
Whole-wheat Four: I wouldn’t go more than 50/50 whole wheat to white flour ratio on this pizza. Anything higher and it comes out too dense (without adding gluten or changing yeast quantity). I make this with freshly ground wheat flour just fine as well.
Would using whole wheat flour work just as well instead? I’d prefer to use just that.
Last time I used all purpose 100% whole wheat flour it came out very dense. I’ve had success with whole wheat baking flour (or soft white whole wheat)
Do you freeze pizzas? If so, do you pre-bake them? Or thaw before baking?
I only freeze the pizza dough. However, this is how you can make freezer pizzas at home.
How do you freeze the dough? I’m just not a dough maker
Myra, I wrap it tightly in plastic wrap or insert in a quart size bag. freeze. Then thaw.
Do you freeze the dough after you let it rise for the hour or before?
Jessica, you freeze after the first rise.
What do you do for your gluten free son? Does the recipient work with all purpose gluten free flour?
I make a different pizza crust for Alex and I. This post was written prior to this recipe… but everyone else enjoys it. 🙂
Oh this looks like one of my favorite pizzas at California Pizza Kitchen! I can not wait to try this!!