Available by the slice or to share, this pizza immediately became a student favorite. We ended up selling over 12,000 slices during its debut semester and I knew I could never take it off the menu. It generated $54,000 in revenue that semester.

Ingredients

Pizza dough
1/2 cup, 3 tbsp. hot water (110 F)
1/2 tsp. honey
1/3 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 tsp. yeast
1.5 cups flour
1 tsp. olive oil

Pizza
2 oz. ranch dressing
7 oz. four-cheese blend
5 oz. chicken
2 1/2 oz. applewood bacon
3 oz. caramelized onion
2 oz. spinach

Steps

  1. For dough: In hot water, dissolve honey, sugar, salt, and yeast and let sit for 3 minutes.
  2. In metal bowl, mix together flour and oil. Add water mixture and mix with hands.
  3. Once a ball forms, knead until dough is a smooth texture and feels soft and firm, like a water balloon (if dough starts sticking to bowl, add flour).
  4. Lightly oil your bowl and dough ball, then wrap bowl in plastic wrap and cover with a towel.
  5. Place bowl on top of a 350 F oven, or in a warm place, for 30 minutes.
  6. Flour your counter surface and dough ball, and roll out dough with roller, or stretch with hands. Dough should be about 1/8-inch thick.
  7. To prepare pizza: Spread ranch dressing evenly on dough and keep about 1/2 inch from edge. Sprinkle cheese evenly on ranch and layer remaining ingredients over cheese in order as listed. Note: If using a wood stone oven, place dough on metal screen; if using a personal oven, place dough on a baking sheet or pizza stone.
  8. To bake: For wood stone oven, heat to 480 F and place pizza screen in center of oven 8-10 inches from flame. Rotate pizza until all sides are a light golden color and bottom is sturdy (pizza will no longer stick to screen when it is ready to be removed). Remove from screen and continue to rotate until edges and bottom are evenly browned to desired crispness. Bake time should not exceed 10 minutes.
  9. For personal oven, heat to 350 F (325 F for convection oven) and place pizza in oven. Allow to bake for 18-20 minutes. Sides will be evenly browned and toppings will no longer appear wet. Bake time may vary; bake to desired level of crispness.
  10. For service: Plate 4 slices per order and serve.