Brussels Sprouts. Bacon. Pizza. Yes.

I’m going to make a confession: pizza is not really my thing. Most of the time it’s just kind of… boring. Bread with sauce and cheese, big deal. You need to do something pretty cool with pizza to get my attention.

Here is an instance of one such attention-grabbing pizza. My friend Sarah is pretty obsessed with Martha Stewart (I mean, I’m a pretty big fan, too — holler, Martha!) Sarah saved a recipe for Brussels sprout & lemon pizza from the March issue of her magazine, and being a Brussels sprout lover, I was into it. It’s also cooked on the stovetop in a skillet, which intrigued me. So we went ahead and made our version.

What do I mean by “our version?” First of all, adding bacon and more cheese, obviously! We also made our own crust from scratch instead of the pre-made pizza crust mandated in the recipe (Pre-made?! Come on, Martha). We were both a bit skeptical of lemon slices as a topping, but they added such a bright, zesty contrast to the rich cheese, salty bacon and Brussels. Who knew!

Skillet Pizza with Brussels Sprouts, Bacon, & Caramelized Lemon

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living

Crust:

Credit where credit is due; I did not create a recipe for this crispy, chewy pizza crust. I have mentioned in the past that I am not much of a baker. My friend is gluten-free and has perfected her own crust-making method, which resembles a great version by Girl Cooks World, so go make your dough from this recipe.

Topping:

1c fontina cheese
2/3c pecorino romano cheese
leaves from 1/2lb Brussels sprouts, lightly tossed with olive oil, salt, & pepper
1/2 lemon, cut into paper-thin slices
3 strips of good bacon, cooked and crumbled into small pieces
good olive oil

1. Preheat your oven to 500°.

2. Press and flatten the dough into a lightly oiled cast-iron skillet. Brush the crust with olive oil.

3. Sprinkle all the fontina and 1/3c pecorino romano over the crust. Top with the Brussels sprouts leaves, bacon and lemon slices. Scatter the last 1/3c of pecorino romano over the toppings.

4. Cook the skillet over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, then transfer to the oven and bake until the crust looks golden brown, about 10 minutes.

5. Top with your preferred seasonings — we love piling on the red pepper flakes, they worked really well with the lemon.

6. Eat the entire pizza over the course of one evening. Oops.