Hawaiian pizza is definitely controversial, but I like it.  When I worked in downtown Houston, and of the regular items in the cafeteria which I really enjoyed was a personal Hawaiian pizza, with ham, pineapple, and jalapeno slices.

Bon Appetit recently published a rather unusual Hawaiian pizza recipe which I successfully made last night.  It originated at a halal pizza restaurant in Philadelphia which was making a Detroit style pizza!  The recipe was unusual since it used a lot of yeast and a short rising time, and the dough was par-baked before being topped.  The pizza itself does not have any sauce, although BBQ sauce is added to taste to the baked pizza.  The original recipe had an interesting Asian-style BBQ sauce, which I did not make since I could not find a few of the ingredients at my local Kroger.  Instead I used Trader Joe’s “Sriracha and Roasted Garlic BBQ Sauce”, which went very well with the pizza.  Another unusual feature of the original recipe was that it used beef bacon to stay halal.  I used conventional pork bacon with a bit of ham.  This will make 4-6 servings with a salad.

(The recipe in Bon Appetit says to make the pizza on a 13 x 9 pan (a quarter sheet) which has to be wrong.  I made it on a half sheet pan (18 x 13), and that seems to be the right size pan.)

2 Tbs. vegetable oil, plus more for oiling the pan

1 Tbs. instant yeast

2 tsp. sugar

17 oz. room temperature water (2 cups + 2 Tbs.)

550 g. (4.5 cups) bread flour

1 Tbs. Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or 1.75 tsp. Morton kosher salt)

8 oz. good quality bacon, chopped

2 oz. ham, chopped

14 oz. can of crushed pineapple with juice

1 lb. low moisture mozzarella, coarsely grated

½ cup pickled jalapenos

BBQ sauce to taste

Preheat the oven to 500, preferably with a baking steel or stone.

For the dough, mix together the yeast, sugar, and water in a mixing bowl.  Add the flour, salt, and 2 Tbs. of vegetable oil.  Using a dough whisk, mix together the ingredients.  Then use a dough hook on low to knead the ingredients into a sticky dough.  Use a spatula if necessary to mix in any flour stuck to the side of the pan.

Put a silicon mat or baking parchment on the bottom of a half sheet pan (18 x 13) and then liberally oil the bottom and sides of the pan.  Pour the dough into the pan and cover it with plastic wrap for 20 minutes.  Then remove the plastic wrap, and with oiled hands press the dough out to fully cover the pan.  Allow to rest for another 20 minutes.

Par bake the dough for 3 minutes.

While the dough is rising, cook the bacon and ham in a large skillet until cooked.  Remove the meats to a plate.  If there seems to be excessive grease in the skillet, pour a little into a bowl.  Add the crushed pineapple and cook over medium heat until the juice has evaporated away and the pineapple has browned.  Mix in the cooked bacon and ham.

Cover the top of the par baked dough with the grated mozzarella.  Scatter spoonfuls of the pineapple/bacon/ham mixture on top of the cheese, and then scatter the pickled jalapenos slices.  Bake for 10-15 minutes until the crust is golden brown.  Remove the cooked pizza from the oven, and removing it from the pan onto a cutting board.  Cut into squares to serve with BBQ sauce to taste.