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Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Thin Crust Barbecue Chicken Pizza

When I was a senior in high school, I was the food and cooking class TA. Go figure. Anyways, my co-TA was a kid named Buddy. Yes, Buddy was his given name. Buddy and I helped the teacher grade the food assignments of her students and we did lots of dishes. I got really good at dishes. But thank heavens I did because I have done MOUNTAINS of dishes for my caterer husband.

When the foods class was approaching their pizza making day, Buddy and I decided to blow them all out of the water and make barbecue chicken pizza. The adorable little Food Fads 1 students were so impressed. But their pizza was probably more complicated than ours. We used bottled sauce and a rotisserie chicken. Cheating all around.



The sauce is my own recipe and I love it. I am actually quite the prideful jerk about my barbecue sauce. My family likes it and I hope yours will too.

The crust is an adaption of Stephanie Nielson's whole wheat pizza crust. I wanted some white flour, so it's about a 50/50 split. You can do all white or all wheat. Whatever you want.

For the order of things, I would suggest you make the sauce then make the dough. While the dough is rising, prepare the toppings. Then roll out the dough and put on the toppings.



For the barbecue sauce:
3/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp honey
3/4 tsp molasses
1/8 tsp liquid smoke
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp ground ginger

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes to an hour.

For the dough:
1 envelope active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp olive oil and more for rolling out.

Add the yeast to the warm water and set aside. Let it sit for about 5 minutes so that the yeast can dissolve in the water.

In a large bowl, combine the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, salt and sugar. Whisk to combine. Add the olive oil and the yeast mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon until the dough starts to come together. Start mixing with your hands until a ball begins to form. Turn the dough out onto the counter and begin kneading. Knead for 5 minutes and then form into a smooth ball.

Spray the inside of a clean bowl with non-stick spray. Put the dough in the bowl and let rise for 45 minutes to an hour. Once risen, spread a small amount of olive oil (about 2 Tbsp) on the counter. Divide the dough in half and roll one half out really thin and then put on a greased 10x15 inch baking sheet. Roll out the other half and put it on another greased 10x15 baking sheet.

For the toppings:
4 chicken breasts
Kosher salt and ground pepper
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 red onion, sliced
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

Fill a large pot with water, cover and set over high heat. Once boiling, add chicken breasts. Boil uncovered for 15 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from water and set on a cutting board to cool. Once cooled, shred and put into a large bowl. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Add 1/3 cup of the barbecue sauce and toss to coat.

Spread the rest of the barbecue sauce evenly over the dough. Add the chicken, cheese and onions. Cook for 20 minutes at 450 degrees, or until cheese is melted and lightly browned.

Remove pizza from pans and sprinkle with cilantro. Cut with a pizza cutter and serve.

Yields 2 10x15 inch pizza.

11 comments:

Krista said...

oh i do love me a good bbq pizza ... i'll have to try it this weekend!

Janeen said...

THANK YOU, You have come to my rescue, I have been trying to find a super, yummy, thin crust pizza dough recipe! You ROCK Whit!

Jeanette said...

My husband loves loves bbq chicken pizza. If you want to spice it up you can add some pace picante salsa to your bbq sauce so it makes your sauce on your pizza a little chunky and spicy. Super yum!

Kalli Ko said...

thanks for reading my mind whitney

{Erica} said...

Thanks for the dough and the BBQ sauce recipe...can't wait to try it!

lucinda snyder said...

i must make this. bbq chicken pizza is my all time favorite food! thanks!

Shanicherie said...

Good ole Buddy...those were the days at phs huh? Actually, I much prefer these days.

Susan from Food Blogga said...

Oh, I adore bbq chicken pizza. I have never used liquid smoke before. Does it make a diff. in your opinion? And when do you use it?

gina said...

YES YES YES YES YES! I've been looking for the perfect BBQ chicken pizza and now I don't have to search! Thanks you!!!

Marie said...

I just happened upon your blog and am so glad that I did!

The hubs and I made this last night (using our own, no-rise pizza dough recipe) and it was FAB! The only thing that he wanted me to add was Cilantro...which your recipe calls for, but I didn't get because he normally doesn't like it. Interesting. I think next time we will try adding a little crumbled bacon too.

tigerfish said...

I'm into thin crust pizza, definitely1