Experience the sizzling flavor of Chef Tom's Jalapeño Popper Pizza! This recipe is made from fresh dough, stuffed jalapeños, smokehouse bacon, blue cheese crumbles and a hint of buttermilk dressing.
WHAT YOU'LL LOVE
- Chilling the stuffed jalapeño poppers before they ever hit the oven firms up the cheese filling, so it holds its shape instead of oozing out during the initial cook
- Cooking the poppers separately first, then nestling them into the pizza afterward, means each slice gets one intact popper rather than filling scattered loosely across the dough
- Rendering the bacon in a skillet before topping the pizza with it means it arrives already crisped, rather than relying on the pizza's short bake time to cook raw bacon through
- Rotating the pizza through the oven door opening in thirds, rather than leaving it in one spot, browns the crust evenly on all sides in the very short, high-heat bake
Jalapeño Popper Pizza
Tom Jackson
Rated 5.0 stars by 1 users
Category
Entree
Cuisine
American
Servings
18
Prep Time
1 hour
Cook Time
8 minutes
Calories
577
Chef Tom fires up the Clementi Clementino Wood Fired Oven for his Jalapeño Popper Pizza featuring scratch-made dough, cheese stuffed jalapeños, smokehouse bacon, blue cheese crumbles and buttermilk dressing!
Ingredients
-
1 batch pizza dough, divided into 3 dough balls (recipe here)
-
Blues Hog Original BBQ Sauce
- Buttermilk Ranch Dressing (recipe below)
- 8 oz low moisture mozzarella cheese
- 18 jalapeño poppers (recipe below)
-
8 oz bacon, diced (recipe video here)
- 4 oz smoked blue cheese crumbles
- Fresh parsley, minced, for garnish
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup parsley, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh chives, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh dill, minced
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic, minced
-
Noble Saltworks Hickory Smoked Salt
- Black pepper, to taste
- 9 whole jalapeños
- 4 oz white cheddar, fine grated
- 4 oz cream cheese
-
2 tbsp Plowboys BBQ Yardbird Rub
For the Buttermilk Ranch Dressing:
For the jalapeño poppers:
Directions
Build a fire in your Clementi Clementino. Slide the fire off to the side with the fire basket. Continue to feed the fire small splits of wood and stabilize the temperature around 600ºF.
To make the Jalapeño Poppers:
- Slice off the stem, then slice the jalapeños in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and ribs.
- Combine the cheeses and Plowboys BBQ Yardbird Rub. Mix well.
- Scoop the cheese filling into the halved jalapeños. Place in a Lodge 10” Cast Iron Griddle and transfer to the refrigerator.
To make the Buttermilk Ranch Dressing:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk well. Store in the refrigerator for up to one week.
To make the pizza:
- Render the diced bacon over medium-low heat in a skillet until lightly browned. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Transfer the chilled jalapeño poppers to the 600ºF oven. Cook for about 3 minutes, until the tops are browned, the cheese is bubbling and the jalapeño begins to soften. Remove from the grill.
- Add splits of wood to the oven to increase the temperature to about 800ºF.
- Stretch one of your pizza dough balls to roughly 12” wide. Place on a floured pizza peel.
- Drizzle the buttermilk ranch dressing and Blues Hog Original BBQ Sauce over the dough. Spread 2-3 oz mozzarella over the sauce and dough. Nestle 6 jalapeño poppers into the mozzarella, so that one popper will sit on each slice of pizza. Sprinkle bacon and blue cheese crumbles over the surface of the pizza.
- Launch the pizza into the center of the deck of the oven. Place the door on the oven. Cook until the crust next to the fire is browned. Slide the pizza to the oven door opening. Spin the pizza around about 1/3. Slide back into the oven and replace the door. Repeat this process until all sides and the bottom of the pizza are browned. If the top needs more browning, lift the pizza up toward the top of the oven for 5-10 seconds. Remove from the oven.
- Finish the Jalapeño Popper Pizza with an additional drizzle of the buttermilk ranch dressing and Blues Hog Original BBQ Sauce. Top with minced fresh parsley. Slice in between the poppers to serve.
Recipe Note
Recipe FAQ
Why chill the stuffed jalapeño poppers before cooking them?
Refrigerating the filled poppers firms up the cream cheese and cheddar mixture, helping it hold its shape once it hits the 600°F oven instead of melting out immediately.
Why cook the jalapeño poppers separately before adding them to the pizza?
Pre-cooking them until the tops brown and the cheese bubbles means each one arrives at the pizza already partially set. Nestling six whole poppers into the mozzarella afterward gives each slice one intact popper, rather than scattering loose filling across the dough.
Why render the bacon in a skillet instead of adding it raw to the pizza?
Cooking it until lightly browned beforehand means it arrives on the pizza already crisped. The pizza's very short bake time in the wood-fired oven isn't long enough to cook raw bacon through on its own.
Why rotate the pizza through the oven door opening in thirds instead of leaving it in one spot?
Sliding the pizza to the door, spinning it about a third, and repeating browns the crust evenly on every side. Leaving it in one position the whole time would brown just the section closest to the fire.
How indoor-friendly is this recipe?
2 out of 5 — a home oven with a pizza stone at its highest setting can bake this reasonably well, but reaching the 800°F the wood-fired oven hits here is difficult to replicate indoors, and you'll lose some char as a result.
Recipe Highlights
Chilled popper filling: Firms the cheese so it holds shape in the high heat.
Pre-cooked poppers: Ensures one intact popper lands on each slice.
Rendered bacon topping: Arrives already crisped rather than relying on a short bake.
Thirds-rotation baking: Browns the crust evenly on all sides.
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Nutrition
Nutrition
- Nutrition Serving Size
- 4.62 oz
- per serving
- Calories
- 577
- Carbs
- 70 grams
- Protein
- 23 grams
- Fat
- 24 grams
- Sodium
- 1326 milligrams
