Pizza with pancetta or bacon

[Tbombs34]

When topping a pie with pancetta or bacon, do you all cook the meat first or place it on the pie uncooked and let it cook while the pizza is baking?  I've been frying my pancetta first and find that it gets too crispy after being fried and then baked, but I'm concerned that uncooked pancetta won't cook sufficiently in the time that it takes for the pizza to bake (about 5-6 minutes for mine @ 550). 

Any insights would be appreciated.

[jeff v]

It depends on how you want it to be cooked when it's done-chewy, crispy etc.

Do you put it under or on top of cheese?

When I've used pancetta, I make sure it's very thin and put it on top of the cheese, and it works fine. It isn't really crispy though. You could also try par cooking it before you top the pizza if you want it cooked more but not to the extent you have been experiencing.

Jeff

[Bill/SFNM]

Sometimes I put it in the sauce. I'll sauté some chopped pancetta to render the fat and then sweat some onions and maybe a some garlic and then add tomatoes and season.

[Matthew]

I slice it thinly & put it on raw.

[Bill/SFNM]

This may a bit off-topic, but if you have any leftover cooked pancetta and also some leftover pizza dough, the combination makes great bread. Here I was trying to reproduce the amazing bread from Benoit.