Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Ridiculously Easy Recipe: Barbecue Chicken Pizza

Almost a month and no updates? I am truly awful. Between my best friend's wedding, getting sick, an impromptu visit from my pregnant sister-in-law, my sister getting a new dog (Oskar is too cute!), AND preparing for our own fur baby, I have been overwhelmed! Despite all that though, I've been cooking up a STORM.

I turned a little bit of Walter (my sourdough starter) into the most amazing, melt-in-your-mouth biscuits. I made shrimp scampi, mushroom risotto, and carrot, ginger, and rosemary soup all for the first time that were amazing.

In the interest of honesty, I also made the worst biscuit gravy ever recently. I decided to use buttermilk instead of 2% and it was vile. Too sour, too salty, not even close to the thick, creamy sauce I was dreaming about. My husband was kind enough to rave about the nasty dish, but I know the truth.

One thing I've made lately that I have LOVED and will make over and over again is this barbecue chicken pizza.  It's no secret I'm not the biggest fan of tomato sauce OR pizza. When the choices for take-out are presented to me, I'll always choose Chinese, tacos, or a sandwich over the famous Italian pie.

This pizza is different though--it combines tangy barbecue sauce with cooked chicken, creamy cheeses, and sweet red onions. A touch of cilantro at the end brings this pizza from home-chef to professional elegance, and really balances out the sweetness of the other ingredients.  This pizza is a great weeknight meal with a salad, or double the ingredients and make two (or 10!) to serve on game day.


Barbecue Chicken Pizza 

Tastes just like the one you can order from California Pizza Kitchen, but without the huge price tag!
Makes 1 pie

You will need:

  • 1 cup cooked chicken breast, chopped, shredded, or cut into strips
  • 2 cups mozzarella, or fontina cheese (or mix the two!)
  • Your favorite bottled barbecue sauce (I like Sweet Baby Ray's brand sweet vidalia onion bbq sauce)
  • 1/2 cup red onion, sliced thin (or more if you're an onion freak like Jeff and I)
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, torn 
  • 1 pizza crust, either store bought or homemade*

*If your local grocery store has a bakery, chances are it puts out fresh pizza dough to buy. If you can't find it, or don't want to make your own, brands like Bertolli and Pillsbury make their own crusts. Make sure you follow the package directions before continuing with the assembly.

Pre-heat oven to 450. Generously flour your work space, then roll out the dough to your desired thickness/pan size. (I prefer to buy those disposable foil pizza pans but if you don't want to do this, either "free-style" your pizza or roll it to fit a standard 13x9 baking sheet.) Using a fork, poke holes liberally through the crust.

With a pastry brush or spatula, spread a thin layer of barbecue sauce on the crust, about 1/4 cup. Alternate sprinkling on the cheese and chicken until the pie is covered. You want some of the chicken to be under the cheese. Sprinkle on the red onion.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and the visible crust is golden brown.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle on the cilantro. Drizzle on additional barbecue sauce if desired. Allow to cool 10 minutes (if you can wait that long!), then cut into 8 equal-sized pieces.

Simple, delicious, done!

Shauna E!

Questions? Comment below!





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