Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza

1. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F / 260 degrees C and set a baker’s half sheet to the side.
2. While the oven is preheating, cook the bacon and the ground beef:
   1. In a skillet over medium-high heat cook bacon until crispy, stirring occasionally to make sure that the bacon gets evenly browned, then reserve to a paper-towel-lined bowl to the side. Drain any residual grease.
   2. In the same skillet you just cooked the bacon in, brown the ground beef, breaking it apart into chunks until cooked through. Strain off any residual grease and reserve meat to the side.
3. Shape your dough. If you prefer a classic pie-shape with a thicker crust compared to the center of your dough, I suggest hand-stretching your dough. If you prefer your pizza to be an even thickness, I suggest rolling your dough out with a rolling pin.
   • If you are hand-stretching your dough:
     1. I like to rub a small amount of olive oil into my hands first; this allows me to shape the dough easier without it ripping accidentally from friction.
     2. Press the dough down with the palm of your hand into a disk shape, then use your fingertips to gently press down on the dough disk, further flattening it.
     3. To further extend the dough, I prefer to press one palm on top of one side of the dough and with the other hand lift the alternative side of the dough and gently work the dough outward, pulling very gently with the tips of my oiled fingers (like a very discrete “come hither” motion) to slowly stretch the dough out. Rotate slightly and repeat until the dough is shaped and stretched to your liking. If you find that the dough starts to snap back or is beginning to tear, allow the dough to relax for a minute or two before proceeding again. Transfer your stretched dough to a sheet of parchment paper.
   • If you are using a rolling pin:
     1. I prefer to place my dough between two sheets of parchment paper to avoid the dough sticking to my rolling pin, but if you prefer you can also sprinkle a bit of flour over the dough ball as well as wiping some over your rolling pin by hand to prevent sticking instead. Once the dough has been rolled to your preferred size and shape, peel the top layer of parchment paper off (if using). The bottom layer that the dough is resting on can be utilized for your baking sheet. If you find that the dough starts to snap back or is beginning to tear, allow the dough to relax for a minute or two before proceeding again.
4. Transfer your shaped dough to the reserved baking sheet.
5. Brush olive oil onto the pizza dough lightly and evenly. This can be done with a pastry brush or the back of a spoon.
6. In a small bowl combine tomato sauce and salt. Pour over the top of the pizza dough and using the back of a spoon spread the sauce out evenly over the dough, leaving a small outer edge of un-sauced dough as desired. Sprinkle the edge of the pizza with sesame seeds.
7. Top the pizza with Colby jack cheese, sprinkling evenly inside the border of the sesame seeds across the top. Then top evenly with the reserved ground beef and bacon, the sliced tomatoes, sliced onions, and pickle slices.
8. Bake for 14-20 minutes or until the crust has reached your preferred level of crispness and the cheese is fully melted and starting to blister. I find that pizzas that have a thinner topping layer take less time to bake and heavier-topped pizzas generally take a bit longer to bake so watch your pizza closely after the 14-minute mark and adjust as desired.
9. Once the pizza has been carefully removed from the oven, drizzle with burger sauce, slice, and serve warm.

For the Burger Sauce:

1. Add the mayo, ketchup, relish, Dijon, vinegar, paprika, and pepper to a small bowl. Mix with a spoon or spatula to combine. Store any unused sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator.