Pizza for Breakfast
Feb 13, 2021 01:05AM ● By Debra Caffrey
I’m not a morning person. The cliché of a preteen sleeping in all morning and his frustrated early bird parents is reversed in this house. My 12-year-old is up and raring to go bright and early and I’m the one who likes to sleep in!
Night owls like myself often don’t “get” the appeal of a big, hot breakfast either! As much as I love to cook and eat, I have no appetite for lots of hot, savory food first thing in the morning. Luckily, my husband is the breakfast maker in the house. On weekends, he and my son have already whipped up large batches of waffles or pancakes from scratch, eaten them and cleaned up by the time I roll out of bed.
As much as I enjoy sharing the cooking duties with the breakfast maker of the house, on special occasions like Christmas morning or birthdays, I like to treat my family to a home-cooked breakfast even if I’m not eating it. But, due to my lack of interest in all things breakfast, I’m not very good at cooking it. I can’t seem to get any of it right, even if it’s as simple as scrambling an egg or flipping a pancake.
Fortunately, I have a breakfast recipe all of us agree on and enjoy, and it begins where most everyone finds common ground – pizza! This concoction turns common breakfast items like hash browns and bacon into pizza form and the best part is that it’s super easy to pull off—and even I can get on board with these ingredients! You can stick with this basic recipe, or riff on it with your own breakfast preferences. For example, you can exchange the bacon for chorizo, add hot sauce or sour cream, and even cook some sunny-side-up eggs on top as well. No matter how you decide to play around with this breakfast pizza, it’ll be a crowd-pleaser for morning people and night owls alike!
Breakfast Pizza
- 1 lb frozen shredded hash browns, thawed
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 5 slices bacon, cooked, drained, and crumbled
- chopped chives or scallions, approximately two tablespoons
Combine thawed hash browns, eggs, one cup cheese, and season with salt and pepper. Transfer the mixture to a rounded stoneware pan or a lightly greased baking sheet. Using damp hands, pat the mixture into a flattened round, about ¾” thick.
Bake until golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.
Top the baked crust with remaining cheese, bacon, and season with more salt and pepper. Bake another 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with chives, use a pizza cutter to cut into slices, and serve!