Bacon, Caramelized Apple and Brie (Feta, goat cheese) Pizza

Last night Dave's friend came over for awhile and we made this delicious pizza dish for dinner and I loved it.  The contrast of bacon and caramelized apples was the perfect salty/sweet mix.  I made this pizza because Dave loves apples, but he didn't like the apples on the pizza because they were sweet. Oh well, not everyone likes the contrast.

***Note the original recipe I used actually used goat cheese, but to be honest, I am not a huge goat cheese fan and we had leftover brie.  I'd love to try this recipe with feta.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cloves garlic
• ¼ cup + 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 large, crisp apple (i.e. Golden Delicious)
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• several sliced of bacon
• 4 ounces of brie cheese (or feta or goat cheese)
• premade (or homemade) pizza dough
• 8 ounces grated mozzarella cheese
• ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
• Flour for rolling out dough (if needed)
• Salt & pepper
• tarragon leaves

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400° F. 

2. Mince 3 heads of garlic and add to a small bowl with ¼ cup of olive oil. Add teaspoon of salt and teaspoon of oregano; mix together.

3. Wash and slice apples into thin wedges and cook with 1 teaspoon olive oil and a pinch of salt on medium heat for 2 minutes. Add 3 tablespoons of brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and reduce heat to low, cover and allow to cook  5-7 minutes, until sugar has caramelized.Apples should be soft when done. Remove from pan. (the apples are a bit soggy - they look like caramelized onions)

4. Cook bacon over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, until browned, but not too crisp and then cut into bite size pieces.

5. Take a few ounces of brie and cut into small pieces. (I actually cut the harder exterior off as I was not sure the texture would go well with the pizza)

5. Sprinkle flour on counter top, and roll dough to ¼-inch thick and place on a greased pizza stone and stretch to fit the stone. Drizzle half of the garlic oil on dough. Sprinkle mozzarella and Parmesan to cover the pizza dough, reserving a few tablespoons of Parmesan for garnishing. Top with bacon, caramelized apples, and tiny slices of brie.

6. Bake pizza for approximately 15-20 minutes. Pizza is done when crust is slightly brown and crispy. Remove from oven, place on cutting board and top with tarragon leaves, a drizzle of remaining garlic olive oil, and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. Cut with a large serrated knife. (WE HAD NO TARRAGON LEAVES SO WE SKIPPED THIS STEP.  I THINK IT WOULD MAKE THE PIZZA EVEN TASTIER, BUT IT WAS STILL DELICIOUS WITHOUT IT)

***I got the recipe from this website, but edited it a bit for our personal tastes.