Makers of the best-tasting ranch dressing in America, Litehouse Foods started as an answer to a prayer—literally. In 1949, company founder Ed Hawkins was working as a chef in Spokane, Washington when he prayed for a solution to his restaurant’s poor-quality blue cheese dressing. Hawkins’ resulting recipe of buttermilk, mayonnaise, spices, and rich blue cheese has transformed this dressing with its tangy richness and approachability.
Today, Litehouse Foods makes its own blue cheese in Sandpoint, Idaho, and distributes to grocery stores across the US. Litehouse, Inc. is entirely employee-owned, and holds community well-being high on its priority list. Their facilities are built with sustainability in mind, and the company donates to educational programs and non-profits whose missions align with their own company values of community success. We fully support building a better world through cheese!
Taking a cue from the traditional Italian recipe, Litehouse’s Gorgonzola boasts a more full-bodied profile than its Blue Cheese cousin, with sizable pockets of Penicillium roqueforti in its cream-colored paste. Available in whole wheels, center cuts, and crumbles, Litehouse Simply Artisan Gorgonzola lends an assertive kick and pleasant creaminess to any backyard barbeque staple—take, for example, this summery flatbread.
Bacon and Gorgonzola Grilled Flatbread
Ingredients
- 1 pound pizza dough store bought or homemade
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ small red onion thinly sliced
- 5 slices bacon about 5 ounces
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- All-purpose flour for dusting
- 4 ounces Litehouse Simply Artisan Gorgonzola Cheese Crumbles about 1 cup
- 1 packed cup baby arugula about 1 ounce
Instructions
- ►If using refrigerated pizza dough, leave out at room temperature for about an hour before working with it. Meanwhile, heat the grill to medium-high, direct heat between 400°F to 450°F.
- ►To make the pickled red onions: Stir together water, apple cider vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small bowl until sugar and salt are dissolved. Add onion, pressing down lightly to submerge, and set aside.
- ►Place bacon in a large skillet over medium-low heat and cook, flipping halfway through, until the fat has rendered out and the bacon is crispy, about 10 minutes total. Transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain and cool, about 5 minutes. Once the bacon is cool enough to handle, chop or crumble the strips into small pieces.
- ►Place pizza dough on a well-floured baking sheet. Use the heel of your hand to press the dough flat. With your hands, work from the middle out to stretch and shape the dough into roughly a 12- by 10-inch rectangle. If dough starts to shrink back, wait a few minutes to let it relax and continue shaping.
- ►Brush dough with half the olive oil. Lay dough on the grill with the olive oil-side down. Let cook, uncovered, until you see light grill marks on the bottom of the dough when you lift a corner of it with tongs or a spatula, 2 to 3 minutes.
- ►Brush the top of the dough with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and flip it over. Sprinkle the dough evenly with the bacon and blue cheese crumbles. Cover and cook until the edges of the flatbread are golden-brown and crisp and the cheese has softened and slightly melted, about 3 minutes more.
- ►Carefully transfer the flatbread to a clean cutting board. Top with arugula and pickled red onion and let cool for 2 or 3 minutes before slicing and serving.
Sponsored by Litehouse Foods. Inc.
Litehouse, Inc.
Litehouse, Inc. is a leader in refrigerated salad dressings, dips, cheese, freeze dried herbs and other innovative and delicious products. Founded in Hope, Idaho by the Hawkins family in 1963, Litehouse is proud to be a 100% employee-owned company. Each of the employee-owners is committed to providing great-tasting, high quality food made with real ingredients and crafted with care. Manufactured at the company’s five U.S. facilities based in Idaho, Michigan, Utah and Virginia, Litehouse award-winning products are available in North America through general retail, e-commerce, foodservice, deli, club stores, and value-added goods such as meal and salad kits. For more information, visit LitehouseFoods.com, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter.
