How To Make The Best Gratuitous Cheeseburger Pizza

‘Gratuitous’ might be the wrong word- this pizza is totally necessary.

Perhaps ‘excessive’ or ‘over-the-top,’ although the concept behind this recipe is much more gluttonous than the actual result.

Something that would likely make more than a few Italians shake their heads in shame?


Drop the judgies and get cooking, my loves. 🙂

Gratuitous Cheeseburger Pizza

Serves Serves 2-3
Prep time 10 mins
Cook time 12 mins
Total time 22 mins

Ingredients

⅓ recipe of pizza dough (below) OR your favourite store-bought crust
1 cup cheddar, grated
¼ cup yellow onion, diced
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
2 Tbsp Roma tomato, diced
¼ cup dill pickles, sliced
Prepared yellow mustard, drizzle (to serve)
.
Meat:
300g extra lean ground beef
2 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp prepared yellow mustard
½ tsp tsp Worcestershire sauce
¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
.
Pizza Dough:*
1⅓ cups warm water
2¼ tsp instant yeast
3¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil

Directions

1. To make dough: Preheat oven to 200°F. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine water and yeast and let sit for 5 minutes until yeast has dissolved and mixture is frothy. Add in flour, sugar, salt, and olive oil; knead on a low speed for 5-10 minutes until dough has formed. It should be elastic and pull away from the sides of the bowl. Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl; cover with aluminum foil, and place bowl in the oven. TURN OVEN OFF. Let the dough rise in the warm oven for about 2 hours until it has doubled in size. Divide into two balls of dough, then use one for the remainder of this recipe. (Prepare another pizza with the second ball of dough, or store in the fridge for another night.)
2. Remove dough from oven, place a pizza stone or heavy baking sheet into the oven. Crank the heat on the oven up to 500 degrees. Let the stone heat for at least 30 minutes in the oven.
3. Brown ground meat in a pan over medium-high heat and then drain off most of the excess liquid. Add ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and pepper and combine well. Set aside.
4. Dust a flat surface with some coarse semolina and stretch out the portion of pizza dough you will be using. Take the heated pizza stone/tray out of the oven and transfer the dough directly on to it. This will cause the dough to start cooking right away, ensuring a nice and crispy crust.
5. Sprinkle the cheddar over the dough on the stone/tray. Top with an even layer of the meat mixture, followed by an even sprinkle of the chopped onion and finish by sprinkling the entire pizza with sesame seeds. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges of the crust are lightly browned.
6. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with diced tomato and sliced dill pickles and then finish it off with an additional small drizzle of prepared yellow mustard. ENJOY!

Notes
* It makes enough for two or three 12 inch pizzas, depending on how thin you like your crust. Once the dough has risen, simply divide it in half/thirds, and place the portions you are not using in freezer bags for future use! BEST. FREEZER RESERVES. EVER.