dstr8 Posted February 7, 2014 Report Posted February 7, 2014 The inspiration for this recipe came from Joe Squared's restaurant, seen on Diner's, Dives and Drive-Ins sometime back. For this initial test run for this recipe I was happy, overall, how it turned out. But like most first time recipe try outs there will be a couple minor changes for subsequent versions I found some high quality shucked, raw frozen chopped clams at Whole Foods: Sam's Clams. They were so fresh and inviting I couldn't resist tasting a few raw...incredible! The "sauce" consisted of: Two heads of garlic, roasted then mashed and combined with a little olive oil, salt & pepper and creme fraiche. The toppings: Rendered bacon, raw clams and smoked gouda cheese. The dough: Italian sourdough starter culture using Jeff Verasano's Neapolitan dough recipe. I didn't have quite enough large chunks of lump to get the KK north of about 675*F (dome) but all in all the pies came out very well and tasty. The clams were super tender because I added them to the pizza raw instead of pre-cooked: Perfect! A couple of alterations I will make next time I make this recipe: The "sauce" was a little too thick...so instead of creme fraiche I'm going to use a little heavy cream to thin out a little more. I'll also use 3-heads of roasted garlic. And I'll reduce the amount of cheese by approximately 50%. Sorry, no pics of this pie on the KK...you'll just have to take my word it was baked on the KK
tony b Posted February 7, 2014 Report Posted February 7, 2014 Awesome. I wish that I had a good local supply for the clams. Closest Whole Foods to me is 150 miles!
dstr8 Posted March 7, 2014 Author Report Posted March 7, 2014 So I made the Bacon and Clam Pizza again...but switched a few things up for the better. * Used roasted garlic as the base...just thinned with EVO to spreadable consistency; no need for cream product here IMO. Net + * Added about 1/3C freshly grated asiago cheese atop the roasted garlic...just enough to add a hint of flavor without being "cheesy". Net + * Eliminated the smoked gouda (too rubbery; wrong texture; didn't need the extra smoke flavor). Net + * Added fresh oregano over the top of the pizza * Added torn pieces of very well drained fresh mozzarella bocconcini (sandwich the cheese balls between paper towels until the towels remain dry...keep the cheese in the fridge until you;re ready to add to the pizza); even better if you can find/afford bufala mozzarella. Net + * Added thinly sliced sweet onion to the top. Net + * Drizzled the pizza with EVO before sliding it into the KK. Net + The right side of the pizza got just a bit over-charred...should have rotated the pie about 1-minute sooner... Thanks to Joe Squared and Guy Fieri for the idea!
