Barbecue Chicken Pizza

We have already had the discussion about how much I love bread...and cheese...and bread.  So one of my favorite foods is pizza and I am always looking for new ways of making it.  Pizza is one of those versatile things that you can go in all kinds of directions with.  Since summer has just started, I was feeling some barbecue.

The nice thing about this recipe is you can make it as easy or as complicated as you want.  Btw...who wants to make something complicated?  Me I suppose...I am just a glutton for punishment.  I will tell you how I made it, but also give you a few options to make it more user friendly.  This is my Barbecue Chicken Pizza:

Barbecue Chicken Pizza

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups warm water

1 tsp instant yeast

4 cups of bread flour/AP flour

1-1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 Chicken breasts

1 lb of mozzarella, sliced

1/2-1 cup of barbecue sauce

1 Garlic clove, minced

1 TBSP olive oil

Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

Cilantro

Directions:

To make the crust, use a bowl of a stand mixer and add the warm water and instant yeast.  Let it sit for 5-10 minutes.  Add the bread, flour, and salt.  With a paddle attachment, mix the dough for 10 minutes.  Let it rise for 1 hour.  To avoid all of this bread making hassle, you can buy store bought pizza crust.  I really like the Pillsbury wheat crust.

While the dough is rising, cook your chicken breasts.  You can poach, saute, or grill them.  I have tried it all of these ways and they are all good.  One truly delicious option is using some leftover rotisserie chicken.  Shred the chicken and mix it with the barbecue sauce.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Take your dough and split it in half.  At this point you can freeze the other half and use it for a quick dinner later.  Roll your dough out and brush it with the tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle with minced garlic and crushed red pepper flakes.  Bake the crust for 10 minutes.  Enjoy the amazing aroma that fills your kitchen.

Remove the crust from the oven and lay the mozzarella on the par cooked crust.  Place the barbecue chicken on the pizza.  You can add sliced red onions, but I am not a big fan of onions so I left them off.  Put your pizza back in the oven and let the cheese melt for about 10 minutes.  Broil the top of the pizza to brown the cheese.  

Take your delicious pizza out of the oven and sprinkle with cilantro.  Btw, Matt doesn't like cilantro which is why his half is so bare.  By this point you will be drooling down your shirt, and I apologize.  I love all of these flavors and especially in the summertime.  So dig in and happy summer everyone!!