Pairings: Complex pinot complements bacon pizza

Our Wine of the Week, Migration 2016 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($40), is sassy, suave and sophisticated. Rich fruit flavors, especially cranberry, and Bing cherry, combined with threads of cinnamon and other sweet spices, add complexity and depth. It is neither a feminine nor a masculine pinot noir but something in between, a drag queen in layers of diaphanous silk, perhaps, or maybe Roxy Music’s Bryan Ferry after his second or third change of outfits. It is both a serious wine and a lighthearted one.

At the table, you’ll enjoy it best with rich flavors and textures. Triple cream cheeses will pair well with it, as will rare duck breast, duck meatballs and the dark meat of chicken. Risotto - especially mushroom or black olive - make extraordinary matches. Duck sausages are great with this wine, too, especially when slathered with freshly made aioli and a bit of Dijon mustard. Rabbit or chicken Dijonnaise flatters the wine as does a traditional French coq au vin.

But it’s summer and some of the heartier matches are best saved until fall. But the wine is quite delightful with a well-made BLT. We’re still waiting for local tomatoes but cherry tomatoes are starting to ripen so today’s recipe features grilled pizza that pay homage to the world’s greatest sandwich. Vegetarians can substitute tapenade for the bacon and have a stellar match.

Grilled Bacon & Tomato Pizzas

Makes 6 to 8 servings

- Pizza dough (recipe follows)

- Olive oil

1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic

1 1/2 - 2 pounds mozzarella fresca, cut into thin slices

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved or, if large, quartered

- Kosher salt

- Black pepper in a mill

1 pound bacon, fried until crisp, drained and chopped or crumbled

1 cup shredded lettuce or thinly sliced fresh basil

Make the pizza dough at least ?4 hours before cooking the pizzas. About 45 minutes before serving, prepare a fire in an outdoor grill.

Roll out the pizza skins as direct in the pizza dough recipe. Prepare the topping ingredients and set them near your work surface.

When the coals are ready, set as many pizza skins on the grill rack as it will hold and grill for 2 minutes. Transfer to your work surface, cooked side up, and continue until all pizza skins have been cooked.

Working quickly, brush each pizza skin with olive oil and scatter some garlic on top. Add mozzarella and scatter a handful of tomatoes on top. Return to the grill and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the dough is cooked through.

Return to a clean work surface, season with salt and pepper and scatter bacon on top. Garnish with shredded lettuce or basil and enjoy right away.

Variation for vegetarians: Replace the bacon with black olive tapenade, adding a few dollops after removing it from the grill for the final time and before adding the lettuce of basil.

Relatively-Fast Pizza Dough

Makes about 6 6- to 8- inch pizza skins

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

11/3 cups warm water

41/2 -5 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

6 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

Combine the yeast and water in a large mixing bowl and set aside for 10 minutes.

Whisk in 1 cup of the flour, the salt, and the olive oil. Add more flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until just 1 cup remains. As the dough thickens, switch from a whisk to a wooden spoon.

Turn the dough out onto a heavily floured surface and knead it until it is smooth and velvety, about ?7 minutes, working in as much of the remaining flour as the dough will take. Brush a large, clean bowl lightly with olive oil, set the dough in the bowl, and cover it with a damp towel. Let the dough rise for 3 hours, until it has more than doubled in size. Gently turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and let it rest for 5 minutes.

Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces. Use the heel of your hand to press the dough into a flat circle and then use both hands to pick it up. Hold the dough perpendicular to your work surface and move your hands around its outer edges, shaking gently as you do. If it doesn’t stretch easily, put one hand on either side of the disk and pull gently. The edges will be thicker; using your hand or a floured rolling pin, flatten each piece into an 8-inch circle about 3/8 inch thick. The dough is now ready to be cooked.

Michele Anna Jordan is the author of 24 books to date. Email her at michele@micheleannajordan.com.