Unusual Easter Brunch -- Pizza

This year for Lent I gave up pizza and it proved to be very difficult. I actually broke it on more than one occasion. In my defense, two of the three times I broke my Lenten resolve was in an effort not to be rude when I was at someone else’s house for dinner. The third time, I was sick and needed comfort food on a Friday night when I was also not eating meat.

This was all an effort to cut back on the amount of cheese I consume and while I will continue to avoid eating too much cheese, I’m absolutely back on pizza.

Since we were going to my sister’s for Easter dinner, I made a breakfast pizza I had read about over the holiday season. It was billed as “Hangover Pizza” for a New Year’s Day brunch, but it was also a delicious Easter breakfast – even though it’s not traditional.

Sometime later this week I will be enjoying brick oven pizza from Pizzeria Serio or deep dish from Pequod’s – my two favorite Chicago pizza restaurants.

Below is the recipe I adapted slightly:

HANGOVER PIZZA

Serves Four

Ingredients

1 lb. of pizza dough, at room temperature (I used the Pillsbury pre-made thin crust to expedite the work involved)

Combine 5 oz. fresh mozzarella, 5 oz. smoked mozzarella and 2 tbsp. pecorino Romano, all grated

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1 cup baby arugula

4 eggs

2-3 tbsp. of white truffle oil or a drizzle of your favorite flavored olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Roll out pizza dough on a greased baking sheet and bake for five minutes. Remove from oven and pierce dough with a fork all over and push down dough using back of spoon.  (A thicker crust may require longer baking time).

Increase oven to 500 degrees.

Spread or sprinkle cheese, salt and freshly ground pepper. Top with arugula. Carefully crack 4 eggs on top of pizza. Put pie back into oven until eggs are cooked, about 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven, and drizzle with truffle oil. Cut into squares and serve hot.