BBQ Cilantro Chicken Pizza

I enjoyed a pizza at a local pizza joint that was amazing. It was a Hawaiian Pizza with a hint of barbecue sauce. It was unique and delicious. I am usually not a fan of barbecue pizza (just too much BBQ taste) but a hint was great.
This recipe was perfect. Basically an easy homemade pizza sauce with barbecue sauce mixed in. I topped the pizza with roasted chicken, pineapple, cheese and cilantro. I'm sure this would work great cooked on the grill.

BBQ Cilantro Chicken Pizza
Prepared pizza dough, I bought a pound of dough at the deli of my favorite market or make your favorite recipe
Sauce:
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 small can tomato paste
1 medium can tomato sauce
1 tomato, finely diced
2 teaspoons basil
2 teaspoons oregano
salt and pepper
1 cup BBQ Sauce--your favorite brand
Toppings:
cilantro
Cheddar and mozzarella cheese
grilled/roasted chicken, rotisserie works great
pineapple fresh or canned (drained), cut in small pieces
cooked bacon (optional)
For the sauce, saute garlic in a little olive oil for 30 seconds, add tomato paste, tomato sauce, diced tomato, and seasonings. Simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in BBQ Sauce. Set aside.
Roll the pizza dough onto a stone or pan. I like my pizza crust thin. Pre-cook the dough in a 400 degree oven for about 6-8 minutes. Remove from the oven and spread with pizza sauce. Top with cheese and pineapple. Bake until cheese is melted and crust is done about 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and top with chicken and cilantro and bacon.
I like this recipe because the BBQ flavor is subtle. A combination of cheeses works well with the chicken and BBQ flavor. I like to pre-cook my pizza crust--it allows the crust to cook through and the toppings are not over cooked. I think it is brilliant to add the chicken to the cooked pizza. If cooked chicken is allowed to cook another 8-10 minutes at 400 degrees you get chicken leather--not good. I like the pineapple cut in small pieces. I want pineapple in every bite. This is a great recipe. Enjoy!
Printable Recipe
Recipe from Family Favorite Recipes

Barbeque Pizza--Secret Recipe Club

The Secret Recipe Club is a great place to find new blogging friends. You are assigned a blog, you have several weeks to stalk that blog and decide what yummy recipe you will make. On reveal day you post the recipe and give a shout out to the 'secret' blog! My blog this month was Ma, What's for Dinner?  Boy can I relate to this gal. I may be an empty nester now but I do have 6 children. They were all young once and dinner was there every day!! Alex has some great kid friendly recipes. She even has a cookbook. So if you have kids this is a blog you will enjoy. Alex also has some fun craft projects.
I will have a houseful of grand children this week. I'm sure I will turn to Ma, What's for Dinner?
I made BBQ Chicken Pizza. It was delicious--a crowd pleaser for sure!
Alex's recipe looked yummy, she made her own barbeque sauce. But I was in a hurry so I took a few shortcuts. I also scaled the recipe down to feed two. I still came up with a BBQ Chicken Pizza that we both enjoyed. I will make Alex's sauce soon--it looks delish.

Easy BBQ Chicken Pizza
1  ball pizza dough, purchased or homemade. I have used both but we just prefer homemade. I use Pioneer Woman's recipe. I love that it can hang out in the fridge for a few days. I make a batch and divide it into 3 balls. This makes a perfect size pizza for two. This dough freezes great too. I love having pizza dough in the freezer--it's a jump start to a great meal.
1-2 cups chicken, grilled or from a rotisserie chicken
1/3-1/2 cup barbeque sauce, Sweet Baby Ray's is our choice
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup sliced red onion
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and sliced thin
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Olive oil

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Drizzle some olive oil on a pizza stone roll dough as thin as you like it! We like thin crust pizza. Brush dough with olive oil. Bake in very hot oven until dough just begins to brown, about 6 minutes.
Mix together chicken, barbeque sauce and 2 tablespoons of the cilantro.
Scatter chicken mixture over partial baked dough. Top with onion and pepper. Bake about 8-10 minutes. Sprinkle cheese over pizza and bake a few more minutes until melted.
Whisk together sour cream, lime juice and remaining cilantro.
Serve pizza with sauce! It's delicious.

Why the sauce??? My son always pulls out the ranch dressing when we have pizza. He insists in dipping his pizza in ranch! I was reading in a America's Test Kitchen cookbook. They suggested serving this Lime Cilantro sauce with Barbecue Chicken  pizza. I tried it--it's a winner. So I guess my son isn't the only one who 'dips' his pizza!
I just realized that last month I also made Pizza for SRC! It was a Thai Chicken Pizza. I can't tell you how many times I've made it! So SRC really is a great place to find new and exciting recipes.

Thai Chicken Pizza--SRC

 I feel like I hit the SRC jackpot this month. The Secret Recipe Club gives one the opportunity to meet a new blogger, spend some time--lots of time in my case-- in their blog and finally make a recipe from their blog. The Inquiring Chef is Jess. Jess is one lucky lady;  she and her hubby Frank are on a job assignment in Bangkok Thailand.
 So, while I shop at Walmart and eat at Taco Amigo and Rumbi's Jess and Frank are living in a city I could only dream of.  The Inquiring Chef is full of a wide variety of recipes, several I want to try. But the photos of everyday life are more than interesting. Spend a few moments in Jess's blog and you will be transported to another way of life. Thanks Jess for allowing me to virtually spend some time in Thailand.

And now for the food; Jess is a great cook! Friday--Pizza Night is a great tradition. Many families look forward to eating Pizza on Friday. We enjoy our pizza night as do Frank and Jess. When looking for a recipe to make on Jess's blog I had to check out the list of 'my favorite recipes'. On it was listed Thai Chicken Pizza. Not really a recipe she learned in Thailand but one she could easily find the ingredients for. This pizza looked too good to pass. I have been making Pioneer Woman's Pizza Crust forever. It's delicious, easy to make and great to work with. We made curry the night before so many of the ingredients were ready. My additions are noted in red. The pizza was over the top delicious, we want more for breakfast! This will be made often on Friday Pizza Night. Soon I will make it outside on the grill.
Thanks Jess for keeping a blog of your journeys; I can't wait to follow the remainder of your Thailand experience. I'm also excited to make the Maria Sinskey’s Gougères.

Thai Chicken Pizza
1 pizza dough recipe, enough for at least 3 pizzas (I like Pioneer Woman's recipe)
The topping measurements are for 3 pizzas.
3 T olive oil, divided
1 red onion, cut into thin strips
1 cup green onion, white and green parts roughly chopped
1/2 red pepper, diced
2 1/2 cup chicken, roasted or sauteed and chopped
1 cup carrots, shredded or cut into matchsticks
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (not really Thai but a small amount of cheese was good)!
1/2 cup roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
1/2-3/4 cup sweet and spicy Thai Chili Sauce
1 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
1 cup bean sprouts

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Heat 1/2 Tbps. olive oil in a small pan over medium high.  Add red onion and saute just until onions begin to soften.  Remove from heat.
3. Divide pizza dough into 3 equal portions. Roll or stretch the first portion into a 12 inch circle on a baking sheet or stone. Pre-bake crust for 5 minutes, remove from oven and drizzle liberally with olive oil.
4. Top pizza, beginning with red onion, followed by green onions, red pepper, chicken, carrots, peanuts, a light sprinkle of mozzarella cheese and finally ending with a generous drizzle of Thai Sweet Chili Sauce.  Bake for additional 5-7 minutes until crust is golden brown.  Remove and immediately sprinkle with cilantro and bean sprouts.  Slice and enjoy.

Pizza Loaf

This is a fun recipe that kids and adults love. I used a loaf of Rhodes Bread Dough--yes I can make my own and I have; but it never hurts to have a few cooking shortcuts on hand. This is a Pampered Chef Recipe, we have enjoyed it for years. Have it ready as kids are coming in the door from sports or dance. Add some fresh fruit and you have a complete meal and a happy family. Try to sit together and enjoy dinner as often as possible. After dinner was a time my dad was willing to talk. Oh the stories he told, living in a small mining town and then lying about his age so he could join the Navy. Dad had great stories, they got better every year!

Greg and I spent a day last week at The Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. What a delightful day it was. This is something we have wanted to do for years, but it was never convenient. It wasn't convenient this year either, but we went.  I'm so glad we did. So tell a story around the dinner table. Make dinner a place kids want to be and mark your calendar for August 30-September 1, 2012. We'll see you at the Storytelling Festival, it's at the mouth of beautiful Provo Canyon.


Pizza Loaf--Pampered Chef
1 loaf frozen bread dough, thawed

2 eggs separated

1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning

1/4 teaspoon pepper

8 ounces diced ham or mini pepperoni

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Mushrooms, peppers, olives as desired

On a greased bar pan roll thawed dough into a 15x10 inch rectangle. In a small bowl combine the egg yolk, oil, seasonings and Parmesan cheese. Brush mixture over dough. Sprinkle with meat, cheese and veggies. Roll up jelly roll style starting at the long side. Brush with lightly beaten egg white. Bake at 35 for 35-40 minutes. Serve with pizza sauce

Grilled Pizza

I have a new favorite food--Grilled Pizza. It is the best. Now I do love almost any kind of homemade pizza but I think of homemade pizza as a winter food. Who wants to heat up the oven to 500 degrees in August? Grilled pizza is all over blog land right now for good reason. IT IS DELICIOUS!
So after reading up on the subject and talking to Chersten our daughter-in-law who has been making grilled pizza for months because she lives in El Paso we felt confident to try a grilled pizza.
Mel's Kitchen Cafe has a great step by step tutorial that we found helpful.. So, here is a bit of information that could be helpful as you grill pizza.
I think any pizza dough would work. I adapted this recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

Quick Pizza Dough
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon yeast
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons Pampered Chef's Parmesan-Garlic Seasoning
In bowl of mixer stir together flour, salt and seasoning. Mix water, yeast, honey and olive oil together, let sit for a few minutes. Turn mixer on low and slowly add liquid, knead for a few minutes until dough comes together and forms a ball. Pour a little olive oil in a bowl add dough and oil all sides. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest 30-45 minutes while preparing pizza toppings.

My favorite pizza sauce is Quick and Easy Pizza Sauce it originates from Cooks Illustrated. It is a fresh sauce and makes up in minutes.

We used one recipe of dough, one recipe of sauce and 8 ounces of shredded mozzarella cheese. This made enough pizza for 5 adults and 2 little kids--with no leftovers! We also topped our pizza with fresh pineapple, fresh basil, pepperoni, sliced olives, red pepper and red onions. I would also like to add mushrooms, ham and parmigiana-reggiano cheese. I have yet to try fresh mozzarella cheese, but it is on the list! Enjoy grilled pizza--it is a slice of summer!
Linked to Full Plate Thursday

Quick and Easy Pizza Sauce

This is another winner from Cooks Illustrated. Talk about a quick pizza sauce, I can see a weekly pizza night with this fresh easy sauce. I found this recipe on  What Megan's Making, an awesome blog you really should check out. 


Quick and Easy Pizza Sauce
1 (28 oz)  can whole peeled tomatoes, drained and liquid discarded
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
2 medium garlic cloves, pressed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Place ingredients in food processor and process until smooth, about 30 seconds. I think an Immersion Blender would also do the job. Refrigerate until ready to use. I used a heaping half cup of sauce on a 9x13 inch pizza. There is plenty for another pizza or maybe a dipping sauce for bread sticks or maybe to drizzle on some pasta. So many possibilities.

Linked to Everyday Sisters, Sharing Sundays

Pizza Madness

The pizza madness started on a visit to Chicago. Our daughter Amber and hubby Tadd would have 'pizza night', we started early in preparation for the work ahead. We chopped, diced, sliced and shredded. We kneaded dough and Tadd made a yummy fragrant sauce. The oven was torched to 500 and the fun began!! We rolled--some tossed and all made their own pizza. It was a fun night that stretched for hours, the pizza was the activity. No one kept track of how many pizzas we made and ate, after all they are small....each creation was as unique as its creator. Amber and Tadd brought Pizza night to Utah. I think Tadd cooked pizza for about 4 hours one night at Grammy's. We had a crowd of hungry cousins! Pizza night continues at the Linderman home, the Springers have a new pizza tradition thanks to Amber and I have even scaled back the recipe so it can be made by a couple of empty nesters. Anyway you make it it's delicious. Use the freshest ingredients available, fresh basil is a must, a little bit of fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano will go along way. Have fun with this recipe---make it a family affair!
Here is the scaled down version, it makes about 6 small pizzas. I make my dough in my food processor:

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup white flour

2 teaspoons yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

3/4 cup lukewarm tap water

1-2 Tablespoons olive oil

Put everything but liquid in food processor bowl and whirl. Using dough hook slowly pour in water and oil, let mix about 1 minute. Put in oiled bowl, cover and let rise about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 525 with a baking stone inside. Let the oven preheat for at least 30 minutes.

On a pizza peel flatten about 1/6 of the dough on a piece of parchment paper. Make the dough as thick or thin as you like--we like ours very thin!!

Top with sauce, sprinkle with cheese and toppings.

Slide the pizza from the peel into the hot oven and bake about 8-10 minutes.
Sprinkle hot pizza with chiffonade (thinly sliced) basil. Cool a moment--it's hot

Tadd's Pizza Sauce

1 28 ounce CRUSHED Tomatoes

2 cloves garlic

2 T olive oil

Saute garlic in oil till fragrant, add sauce, 1/2 tsp salt and fresh pepper. Simmer 15 minutes. Adjust seasonings, may add some basil or a little sugar. This is a great easy sauce.

Jill's Easy Sauce

1 small can tomato paste

1 small can water

1-2 Tablespoons Pampered Chef Italian Seasoning

a little sugar, stir all together and it's ready to use!