Great Plains BLT Pizza
Jul 16, 2021, Updated Jul 11, 2022
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This recipe is sponsored by NatureSweet®.
Driving across the Great Plains on a road trip, it might be easy to mistake its sheer expanse for emptiness. But you’d be missing out on a rich and beautiful part of the country, filled with expressive, hardy people with good taste in dishes! From crust to crust, the expanse of this BLT Pizza captures the spirit of this spirited region using delightful NatureSweet Glorys®.
How to Make Great Plains BLT Pizza
Pizza? On the grill? You might be used to cooking a homemade pizza in your oven, where you know just how long to cook them to turn out a perfect pie. But a grilled pizza is a slice of heaven! Take a bite and you’ll be met with the perfect amount of crispy crust and a smokey flavor reminiscent of brick oven pizza. But don’t worry: if you don’t have access to a grill, an oven will still do this BLT Pizza justice.
A grill may enhance the flavor of this pizza, but the first real trick to making a great BLT Pizza is by finishing it with fresh toppings after it’s done cooking. Lettuce shreds will burn as it cooks and balsamic glaze is best left off the pizza until after cooking, too. NatureSweet Glorys® will get tender and even juicier when cooked, but save a few until the pizza comes off the grill for a balance of fresh and cooked Glorys®.
The second trick to making a perfect BLT Pizza is to flip it over halfway through. We know that sounds crazy, but hear us out! Start by brushing the top with oil and flipping it top-down onto the grill (before adding any toppings, of course!). The oil will help the top cook to an even crispiness. Pull the crust off of the grill after a few minutes and flip it over. Add the sauce, cheese, and toppings to the side you just cooked, then slide it onto the grill again. You’ll end up with an evenly-cooked crust, hot and flavorful sauce, bubbly cheese, and tasty toppings!
Great Plains BLT Pizza
Ingredients
Crust
- Pizza dough store-bought is fine
- Olive oil for brushing
Sauce
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
Cooked toppings
- Fresh mozzarella
- NatureSweet Glorys® halved (reserve some for final fresh topping)
- Bacon cooked to almost crispy & chopped (will get to full crispy on the grill)
Finishing toppings
- Green leaf lettuce shreds
- Balsamic glaze
- NatureSweet Glorys® halved
Instructions
- Make sure grill is well cleaned and oiled, to prevent the crust from sticking. Preheat it to 425 degrees (medium-high heat).
- Stretch or roll dough into desired size and thinness and place on a piece of parchment paper.
- Brush tops of the prepared dough with oil, then lift the parchment the crust is on and carefully flip the crusts onto the grill, oil side down. Peel the parchment paper off.
- Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes and check for doneness with tongs to see if the bottom side has grill marks and is golden brown. Flip the pizzas onto a plate and add sauce and toppings to the cooked side.
- Lower the grill heat slightly and slide pizzas back onto the grill to cook the bottom side for another 3-5 minutes, until cheese is melted and bottom crust is golden.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
On the Road with NatureSweet Glorys®
At this stop in NatureSweet’s Recipe Roadtrip, we’re celebrating everything there is to love about Great Plains gastronomy! Pizzas are a national favorite and BLTs are well loved in this part of the country, so the resourceful people of the Great Plains combine them into one delicious meal.
NatureSweet Glorys® are little tomatoes with taste as big as the unending Great Plains sky. These bright, poppable tomatoes are perfect for snacking but they’re also delicious in all kinds of recipes, including this Great Plains BLT Pizza. And because their container doubles as a colander, they’re ready to eat in seconds – just peel the label off and wash them in the package!
What makes Glorys® so irresistible? The answer is easy: they’re grown right! NatureSweet is committed to growing these tasty tomatoes the right way through innovative farming techniques and sustainable practices. And by standing behind its people at every level of the supply chain, NatureSweet has developed a team that really cares about the produce they grow and ship. Learn more about NatureSweet®’s commitment to growing Fair Trade Certified tomatoes in Episode 144 of The Produce Moms Podcast.
Your friends and family will be pleased with this pizza! When the last slice of BLT Pizza is gone, check out more of the stops on NatureSweet’s culinary road trip here.
Want to share your kabob experience with us? Tag us on Instagram @theproducemoms and @nstomatoes!
