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A bagel-inspired brunch pizza

This Everything Bagel Pizza with Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese starts with a classic dough base, brushed with olive oil, and sprinkled with an 'Everything Bagel' seasoning mix. After baking, a generous schmear of whipped dill cream cheese is added before topping with cold-smoked salmon, tomato slices, cucumber ribbons, capers, fresh dill, and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt. This tasty bagel-inspired pizza is easy to assemble for a showstopping morning meal, or prepped in advance, chilled, and served for brunch or lunch the following day!

What should I top my Everything Bagel Pizza with?

You can top your Everything Bagel Pizza with the suggested:

Whipped dill cream cheese
Cold-smoked salmon (or lox if you prefer)
Sliced tomatoes
Cucumber ribbons
Capers
Fresh dill
Flaky sea salt

These also make wonderful toppings for your bagel-inspired pizza:

Swap the smoked salmon out for lox, whitefish, herring, trout, sardines, or another oil-packed or salt-brined fish
Swap the salmon out for crunchy bacon or prosciutto
Add sliced hard-boiled eggs - or - poached eggs - or - fried eggs
Sliced avocado
Sliced onion: Red, white, or green (scallions)
Marinated peppers
Fresh chives, basil, or tarragon
Microgreens or arugula (rocket)

What is the difference between Smoked Salmon and Lox?

Though the terms "smoked salmon" and "lox" are often used interchangeably, they are distinctly different. You can use either option on this Everything Bagel Pizza, but my personal preference is to use cold-smoked salmon because it has a soft buttery texture and a lightly smoky and briny flavor. Here's a quick breakdown of the differences:

Smoked Salmon

Smoked salmon is salt-cured or brined (often for around 1-5 days) then smoked giving it a distinctly smoky and lightly briny flavor. It is often made from the entire side of a salmon, rather than just the fatty belly. Cold-smoked salmon has a texture similar to lox, with delicately thin slices with a silky and buttery texture, but the flavor is slightly less salty and somewhat smoky. Hot-smoked salmon is distinctly different than both cold-smoked salmon and lox in appearance, with a thick cut and a flaky texture similar to baked salmon. The smoky flavor is often more pronounced in hot smoked salmon as well.

Lox

Lox is salt-cured (often for around 3 months) but not smoked. It is often made from the fatty belly of the salmon and cut into thin and delicate slices with a silky and buttery texture similar to cold-smoked salmon. However, lox has a much more pronounced salty flavor and is not smoky.

Everything Bagel Seasoning

For 'Everything Bagel' lovers, you can make your own 'Everything Bagel' seasoning with a super simple mix of dried pantry staples.

Poppy seeds
White sesame seeds
Black sesame seeds
Dried garlic
Dried onion
Flaked sea salt

Though this is the classic "everything" mix, feel free to adjust depending on your preferences and availability. At a minimum, I suggest trying a mix of poppy seeds, white sesame seeds, and flaked salt for a tasty crust.

WHAT ABOUT THE PIZZA CRUST?

I prefer to use this Easy Same-Day Pizza Dough recipe to make this Everything Bagel Pizza with Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese, but if you have a preferred pizza crust recipe of your own or want to grab some pre-made dough from the store, feel free to use those as well.

Why is docking the dough so important and how do I do it?

Docking your pizza dough helps tack the top layer of the dough to the bottom layer to help seal them together and prevent the dough from developing large bubbles as it bakes. This is especially important when you pre-bake a pizza crust before adding toppings as you do for this Everything Bagel Pizza.

You can use a docking roller made specifically for this or you can simply use a fork, as I do. To dock, press the tines of the fork into the rolled dough every half-inch (or so) across the entire surface area. To give the dough a bit more weight on top, I like to brush the top with a bit of olive oil. This has the added benefit of helping the dough brown evenly without drying out and helps give the 'everything bagel' seasoning something to stick to so it doesn't roll off on the way to the oven.

WHAT TEMPERATURE IS BEST TO BAKE PIZZA AT?

Your aim is a perfectly golden crust, so the hotter the better. Many professional pizzerias keep their ovens heated to 800 degrees F or higher, but most home ovens only reach temperatures between 500-550 degrees F so this recipe is created with those constraints in mind. I bake my pizzas at 500 degrees F / 260 degrees C and get wonderful results. If your oven tops out at 450 degrees F / 232 degrees C, I have tested that temp many times over as well and it works well, though you’ll want to plan on a few extra minutes in the oven.

Can I make this pizza in advance?

Yes, absolutely! In fact, I've baked my pizza crust a day in advance (I keep the crust from drying out by storing it in a plastic bread bag in the fridge) then topped the pizza the following day before I was ready to serve it. It was even great the following day after dressing it, so I imagine that you could fully dress the pizza in advance and carefully store it (covered) in the fridge for the following day. Depending on the type of toppings you choose to use to dress your Everything Bagel Pizza with, you may end up with a bit of additional liquid disgorged from the veggies -- cucumbers and tomatoes, in particular, are notorious for weeping -- but I had great success using both on top and serving this pizza the following day.

WHAT TOOLS DO I NEED TO MAKE THIS RECIPE?

A baker’s half sheet
Parchment paper
A kitchen scale or measuring cups (for less precise measurements)
Measuring spoons
A cutting board
A chef’s knife
A vegetable peeler
A small prep bowl + a small spoon
A medium mixing bowl
A hand mixer
A spoon or spatula (for spreading cream cheese)
A rolling pin (only if you prefer an evenly thick pie) otherwise your hands are your best tool
A pizza wheel

Are you looking to upgrade to your cooking tools or replenish your pantry? Check out my kitchen tools shop page and pantry staples shop page to find my must-have kitchen tools, pantry items, and other Whip & Wander favorites.

Looking for more brunch inspiration?

Love this Everything Bagel Pizza with Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese? Here are some additional favorites for your next brunch meal:

Everything Bagel Pizza with Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese

Author: Whip & Wander
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Total Time: 27 minutes
Yield: 4 servings 1x
Category: Pizza, Mains
Method: Oven
Cuisine: American

Print Recipe

Description

Ingredients

Scale

For the "Everything Bagel" seasoning:

½ tsp poppy seeds
½ tsp white sesame seeds
½ tsp black sesame seeds
¼ tsp dried garlic (can omit if intolerant)
¼ tsp dried onion (can omit if intolerant)
1 tsp flaked sea salt, as preferred

For the pizza:

½ recipe Easy Same Day Pizza Dough
2 tbsp olive oil
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped
¼ tsp cracked black pepper
8 oz cold-smoked salmon (may substitute for lox if preferred)
16 g (about ¼th of an) English Cucumber, peeled into ribbons with a vegetable peeler
100 g fresh tomatoes, sliced (I used 2 small Campari)
1 tbsp non-pariel capers
Fresh dill, to dress the top as desired
Flaked sea salt, to dress the top as desired
Cracked black pepper, to dress the top as desired

Instructions

Combine the "everything bagel" seasoning mix together in a small bowl, then reserve to the side.
Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F / 260 degrees C and set a baker’s half sheet to the side.
Roll or hand-stretch your pizza 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 and transfer to the baking sheet, then reserve to the side.
- 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. Transfer your shaped dough to the reserved baking sheet.
Brush the top of the dough with olive oil, then sprinkle the outer edge of the pizza with the reserved "everything bagel" seasoning.
Bake pizza dough for 12-15 minutes or until it is an even light golden brown color. Once baked, reserve the pizza crust to the side to cool.
In a medium mixing bowl, add the cream cheese then using a hand-mixer whip the cream cheese until soft and fluffy. Toward the end of mixing, add the dill and cracked pepper and mix until combined.
Once the pizza dough is cool, spread the whipped dill cream cheese over the top, ensuring that its spread within the borders of the seasoned edge. Top with cold-smoked salmon, sliced tomatoes, cucumber ribbons, and capers. Top with a sprinkle of fresh dill, flaked sea salt, and cracked black pepper as desired. Slice and serve immediately or chill in the fridge until fully cold.

Notes

Nutritional information on Whip & Wander is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site.

Nutrition

Serving Size: ¼th of the pizza
Calories: 618
Sugar: 5 g
Sodium: 1567 mg
Fat: 36 g
Saturated Fat: 14 g
Carbohydrates: 51 g
Protein: 24 g
Cholesterol: 64 mg

Keywords: Smoked salmon, cucumber, tomato, cream cheese, everything bagel