Before I moved back home to Florida, I was dead-set on heading west to California. I had been totes over New York for quite a while but was afraid to move because I thought everywhere else would be boring. As for California, well, it just seemed ideal. The people were like-minded, super eco-conscious and progressive, one of my favorite ways to chill was actually recreationally legal, New York winters didn't exist there, and most importantly -- there were In-n-Out Burgers.

As an East Coast gal, In-n-Out was one of those things that I yearned for. Not being able to get it on the reg only made me want it more. I dreamt about their burgers dripping with animal sauce goodness, crispy fresh-cut fries smothered in cheese sauce and topped hot peppers, and a perfectly spun milkshake in my hand. But nah, for some reason, somebody decided to keep it a West Coast thing. And I will never forgive them for that. **insert devil eyes**

But because I can't stand being told no and the idea of indefinitely longing for it sounded terrible, I decided to make my own. I scoured the internet for copy cat recipes and tried dozens of variations, finally combining a bunch of different ones until it tasted just right. And yes, you're right, it's not exactly like the original but this version is pretty dang close.

One night, after a long weekend of grilling and chilling, Jerm and I were too tired to go out for dinner so I made use of what we had. I sloppily rolled out a ball of pizza dough that i got at Publix. Then once I realized I didn't have any tomato sauce, I used the leftover animal sauce we had and the rest was history. We crumbled the meat from a leftover hamburger on top and dotted it with other burger toppings we had on hand.

After 10 minutes in the oven, the pizza came out looking like a million bucks. Then we tasted it and we were in heaven. A dinner that I thought was going to be weird and slightly off putting turned out to be one of the best things we've ever made. I mean just look at that picture below! Don't you just want to screen shot it and use it as your background on everything? It's heaven!

So yeah, enough talking. Let's get to the recipe! Either follow the directions below or watch this episode of me doing it live on the Food Network's FB page!

RECIPE: Animal Style Cheeseburger Pizza

INGREDIENTS

--FOR THE ANIMAL SAUCE--

• 1 cup mayo
• ⅓ cup ketchup
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
• 2 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
• a few dashes worcestershire
• splash white wine vinegar
• a few pinches salt
• 1 pinch sugar
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder

--FOR THE PIZZA--

• 1 ball pizza dough
• 1 handful flour
• ¼ cup cornmeal
• ½ cup animal sauce
• ¼ cup caramelized onions
• 1 cup shredded cheddar
• 1 cup crumbled beef patties
• ½ cup chopped dill pickles
• ¼ cup chopped tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoon sesame seeds

INSTRUCTIONS

--FOR THE ANIMAL SAUCE--

1. Mix all ingredients together and set aside. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

--FOR THE PIZZA--

1. Preheat oven and pizza stone to 500 degrees for at least 30 minutes. Sprinkle flour onto a super clean surface. Carefully poke the pizza dough with the flat part of your fingers until it begins to flatten out, flipping and turning every few minutes to help the dough keep its circular shape. Using the weight of the dough, carefully grab it by the edge of the crust, hold it in the air, and spin it so that its own weight causes the dough to stretch.  Give it a few tosses if you're feeling ballsy but remember to keep your hands soft and in a fist like shape as to not puncture the dough.
2. Sprinkle cornmeal onto the hot pizza stone and place the dough on top. Spoon on about ⅓ or more cup of the animal sauce and sprinkle with half the cheese. Crumble the cooked hamburger and put it on top, then add the tomatoes, caramelized onions, and pickles. Add the remaining half cup of cheddar on top and drizzle the whole thing with olive oil - making sure to get the outer crusts well so that the sesame seeds will stick. Once the sesame seeds are sprinkled onto the outer crust, put it in the oven for a few minutes or until the cheese has melted and the crust is hot, crispy and cooked through.
3. Remove the pizza from the oven and carefully put it on a cutting board. Drizzle the whole thing with more of the animal sauce and serve immediately.

So yeah, I want to thank each one of you for watching today and for allowing me to share my cheesy goodness with all of you! I truly appreciate it and wish I could feed every single of one of you a slice! I hope y'all enjoy this pizza pie!

xoxo,
GCS