mamma mia pizzeria. [pesto & bbq chicken pizzas]
The other night, my brother mentioned that he was craving pizza for dinner. His suggestion inspired me to make homemade pizza, since I was not about to let him make DiGiorno pizza or order from Pizza Hut. I decided to make a pesto pizza topped with chicken, sun-dried tomatoes and dollops of ricotta cheese, as well as a bbq pizza topped with chicken, fontina cheese, red onions and cilantro.
Both pizzas turned out absolutely delicious, which my brother and I proved when he moved on to his seventh piece and I onto my fourth.
Pizza making is not necessarily an art. The amount of toppings added and thickness of the crust, for example, is entirely up to the chef. Therefore, I do not have exact measurements for my pizza recipes. I just dumped and sprinkled ingredients until satisfied. As seen in one of the pictures, my bbq chicken pizza did not turn out perfectly circular. But I love that the pies weren’t flawless—the imperfections gave them character.
Pesto pizza recipe:
Trader Joe’s whole wheat pizza dough
Pesto (recipe follows)
Grilled or pre-packaged and cut chicken
Sun-dried tomatoes, drained
Ricotta cheese
Directions:
Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
Sprinkle pizza peel with flour and corn meal and rub flour on rolling-pin and ball of unchilled dough. Roll dough out on peel, adding flour to rolling-pin as necessary. Make sure enough flour and corn meal is spread under the uncooked pizza before placing in oven. The corn meal helps scrape the pizza off the peel.
Spread a generous amount of pesto on the pizza, everywhere except the outer edge—for the crust. Place shredded or diced chicken pieces evenly around the pizza then top with desired amount of sun-dried tomatoes and dollops of ricotta cheese.
Brush the edge of the pizza with melted butter and sprinkle with salt. This will give the crust a beautiful golden brown color.
Place pizza stone in oven and sprinkle corn meal on top. Transfer pie from pizza peel to pizza stone. Cook pie for 5 to 7 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted and bubbling.
Pesto recipe:
2 cups basil, packed
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1/2 cup Parmesan
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt, or to taste
1/4 tsp. pepper, or to taste
Directions:
Pulse basil, pine nuts, garlic, salt and pepper. Add oil and blend to desired consistency. Transfer pesto to bowl and stir in parmesan cheese.
Bbq chicken pizza recipe:
Trader Joe’s whole wheat pizza dough
Trader Joe’s bbq sauce
Grilled or pre-packaged and cut chicken
1 small red onion, diced
Fontina cheese, shredded
Cilantro
Directions:
Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
Sprinkle pizza peel with flour and corn meal and rub flour on rolling-pin and ball of unchilled dough. Roll dough out on peel, adding flour to rolling-pin as necessary. Make sure enough flour and corn meal is spread under the uncooked pizza before placing in oven. The corn meal helps scrape the pizza off the peel.
Spread bbq sauce around the pizza, everywhere except the outer edge—for the crust. Place shredded or diced chicken pieces evenly around the pizza then top with fontina cheese, diced red onion and cilantro. The cilantro is usually added after cooking the pizza, but I decided to add it before and after cooking.
Brush the edge of the pizza with melted butter and sprinkle with salt.
Place pizza stone in oven and sprinkle corn meal on top. Transfer pie from pizza peel to pizza stone. Cook pie for 5 to 7 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted and bubbling.
