The Ultimate BBQ Chicken Pizza

Firstly, I want to dedicate this post to my brother E-rock.  When it comes to this tasty chicken pizza, my not-so-little brother is the biggest fan.

Secondly, I am posting this as an amazing and fast (amazingly fast) dinner.  I have a "thing" for recipes that are a little bit more complicated but this baby has few ingredients and can be thrown together in a hurry and it is STILL AMAZING!  All this made for the perfect dinner for Halloween night.   Happy Halloween all!  While Mr. Handsome and our two boys were busy carving spooky faces into their pumpkins I whipped up some tangy pizza with a fresh zing.

Thirdly...that sounds funny when I read it in my mind...is "thirdly" really a word?  Anyway, I have to give a shout out to a blogger hero of mine: Melissa from "Being a Bear".  I found this recipe on her blog and she is a witty fun writer with AMAZING culinary taste.  I will be sharing more from her in the future.  I love everything I have attempted from her blog.  I have changed a few things according to my own whims and to suit my picky eaters; so if you want to see the original for some other ideas check hers out!

...Oh! and one last thing.  This is a great way to use canned chicken.  I LOVE canned chicken because it makes this recipe that much quicker.  And if you are a super lady (like my mother) who bottles her own chicken, this is a great way to use it up :)

Onward!

If you want to make your own Pizza Dough--and you DO!

or if you're really in a hurry and have store bought stuff you can skip this part

1 Tbsp Yeast
1 cup warm water (as hot as you can get it from the faucet)
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp oil
1 tsp salt
2-3 cups flour*

*I like to put 1-1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour in to give it a little more "wholeness" :)  and the rest regular ole flour.

Put water and yeast in boil, let sit for 1-2 minutes.  Add oil, salt, sugar, and 1 cup flour.  Cover with towel and let sponge.  (see my Roll recipe if you don't know what I mean by "sponge").  Then add the rest of the dough and knead for 5-ish minutes.  Pour a bit of oil on the counter and coat dough in oil and cover with towel to rise until doubled.  Sprinkle some cornmeal on pizza pan--thanks Mom for the amazing Pizza Stone!

Do you remember those mystery books where you could pick the ending?...You can look at this dough recipe the same way okay?

Grease your hands and spread dough out on pan and...

A-bake for 10 minutes at 400 and then put toppings on and bake for another 10 minutes or till golden brown and bubbly.

or

B-put toppings on and bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

(A tends to cook all the way through faster and be fluffy and soft when done.  B tends to take longer to cook all the way through and be more crispy when finished...in my oven)








BARBECUE CHICKEN PIZZA
adapted from a Pillsbury recipe found at "beingabear.com"

1/4 cup BBQ Sauce 

1/4 cup Jam

1 can Chicken Breast

a little bit more BBQ sauce

1 tsp garlic

1 Tbsp oil

1 red onion

3-4 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

1/4 - 1/2 bunch Cilantro

• Mix equal parts *BBQ sauce (about 1/4 cup) and **Strawberry Jam (about 1/4 a cup) for pizza sauce and spread on dough.  

*I like Sweet Baby Ray's or Famous Dave's--Sweet Baby Ray's is sweeter so put more BBQ and less Jam to balance.  

**I use homemade Strawberry Freezer Jam and I HIGHLY recommend that you do the same :)

• Sprinkle a few handfuls of mozzarella over sauce. 

• In a frying pan, saute 1-2 tsp minced garlic with 1 Tbsp oil until golden brown and add 1 can cooked chicken and BBQ sauce (about 1/8 to 1/4 cup) till coated and finely shredded.  Spread over pizza.  Cut red onion into rings and cover pizza.  Top with lots of mozzarella.  Bake until golden brown and cooked through (I broil for 1-2 minutes at the end to help) .  

• And now the MOST IMPORTANT PART, the SECRET INGREDIENT:

          Add fresh chopped cilantro on top and serve.

(We grew a ton of cilantro in our flower beds this past year and we lived on this delicious pizza all summer long!)  The Cilantro seals the deal, super yum!

Bon Appetit!