BBQ Chicken Pizza

Though they sell any number of combinations and types of pizza, according to a number of sites, the most popular pizza at CPK is BBQ Chicken Pizza.  They are responsible for introducing this pizza to the world. Almost every pizza outlet now offers some form of this iconic pizza, but you can make a delicious version at home and have it hot and fresh in minutes.  Making this delicious pizza is much easier than you might think it would be.  Whether you make your own dough, or buy pizza dough at Trader Joe’s or your local pizzeria, the rest of the ingredients are easy to put together and of course you can add more, or leave off those that don’t suit you.  Here is the list of basic ingredients:

Pizza dough (see recipe below)
BBQ sauce (we like KC Masterpiece)
Rotisserie or left over roasted chicken tossed in BBQ sauce
1/2 pound of bacon, fried crisp and crumbled
1/2 red onion very thinly sliced
Smoked mozzarella (Trader Joe’s has a very good one)
Extra sharp cheddar, grated
Parmesan cheese
Cilantro
Avocado, cut into small pieces

Roll out your dough to the thickness you prefer.  The thinner the crust, the lighter you need to go with your toppings, as very thin crust cannot support a lot of heavy toppings.  So proportion your toppings to the thickness of your crust.

Spread rolled out dough with a light coating of BBQ sauce.  Scatter about 3/4 of the cheddar and mozzerella cheeses over the BBQ sauce.  Add chicken and bacon then add remaining cheese and red onion.

Bake in a 500 degree oven for about 10 minutes but check your pizza after about 7 minutes particularly if your crust is really thin.  As soon as you remove the pizza from the oven, sprinkle with chopped cilantro leaves and avocado.  Slice and serve….yum!

Pizza Dough

2 cups of warm water
2 pkg. yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups flour

Place sugar and yeast in warm water and allow the yeast to “bloom”.  It will become foamy.  Using a mixer with a kneading attachment, place flour and salt in the bowl of the mixer.  Pour in yeast/water mixture and add olive oil.  Mix for 3-5 minutes until dough is fully mixed.  Turn off mixer and allow the dough to rise and rest for about 30 minutes.  Punch down the risen dough and knead again for about 30 seconds.  Turn out onto a floured surface.  Divide dough in half.  Roll out each piece to a circle or a rectangle, which ever you prefer.  Place rolled out dough on a baking sheet sprinkled with corn meal to keep the dough from sticking as it cooks.  Add toppings.

This dough recipe is enough for two medium sized pizza or one very large pizza.  You can keep any used dough in a plastic bag for 2-3 days.