Chicken Pizza

Last night I decided to make chicken pizza.  One, because I love chicken pizza and it is an excuse to consume pizza crust and cheese.  And two, because Eric was going to be home late and he does not love chicken pizza as much as I do.  I happened to have a ball of pizza dough in the freezer so I used that.  The dough I use comes from the Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook, it is the perfect combination of chewy and crunchy and has just the right taste.  Here is the recipe if you want to make your own homemade pizza crust.

1 1/2 C Warm water
1 t Dry yeast
4 C All purpose flour
1 t Kosher salt
1/3 C Extra virgin olive oil

Pour water into a bowl, sprinkle yeast over water.  Combine flour and salt in mixing bowl (here is where I break out the stand mixer from yesterday).  With mixer on low, drizzle in olive oil until just incorported.  Gently stir water/yeast mixture, drizzle into flour mixture until dough forms a ball.  Drizzle a little olive oil in a bowl, toss dough to coat.  Cover dough and set in a warm place for 1-2 hours.  Or put it in the fridge.  Or wrap it tight and freeze it.  After the dough as set for 1-2 hours I cut it in half and put one ball in the freezer.

And now the good part.  I was thinking ahead for supper (more than 10 minuets before meal time) and managed to get some chicken thawed.  I marinated boneless, skinless chicken breasts in soy sauce and teriaki sauce for most of the afternoon then cut it into 1" pieces and cooked with olive oil and onions until cooked through.  I seasoned the cooking chicken with ginger and garlic salt.

This was a white sauce pizza because I am all out of tomato based sauces.  While the chicken was cooking I made a basic white gravy. 

2 T Oil (or butter)
2 T Flour
1-2 C Milk
Seasoning

Heat the oil and flour until it forms a paste.  I usually dump in salt and pepper at this point too, today I kept the ginger theme going and added a little ginger and garlic salt to the gravy.  Keep the heat about medium high and pour in milk.  Whisk constantly as you pour in the milk so the gravy does not get lumpy.  Add milk until the consistancy seems about right, remember it will thicken as it boils.  I wanted it a little thicker than gravy but a little more runny than say a can of cream of chicken soup. 

I sauted onions with the chicken but green peppers would have been pretty good too.  Once everything is cooked, spread the pizza dough out on a cookie sheet.  Pour gravy/sauce on dough, sprinkle chicken and all the yummy goodness from that pan over the sauce.  Cover the whole thing with cheese.  I had shredded motzarella.  Bake at 425 for 10-14 min until crust looks right and cheese is melted.

Pizza is fun to make because the toppings can be changed or adjusted to what you have in the house.  I usually use spaghetti sauce and browned hamburger because that is what Eric prefers but the options are endless.  I hope you try your own version sometime!