BBQ Chicken Pizza with Caramelized Onions

This pizza is delicious.  It came together in a flash and was probably the best BBQ chicken pizza I have ever had.   Melt in your mouth, the perfect amount of sweetness and savory.  Will be making this again!



BBQ CHICKEN PIZZA WITH CARAMELIZED ONIONS

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pizza dough
• handful of cornmeal for pizza peel
• 1/4-1/3 cup of favorite BBQ sauce (add as much looks good to you)
• 2/3 cup shredded chicken (I used leftover roaster chicken from Sam's)
• 1/2 cup shredded gruyere cheese (or gouda)
• 1 cup mozzarella
• 1/2 red onion
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. butter
• 3 TBSP fresh chopped cilantro

DIRECTIONS: 

Preheat oven to 450. Place pizza stone in oven (or spread pizza on pizza sheet).  Slice onion in thin slices.  Add into a small skillet, add olive oil, butter and sliced onions. Cook over med-high until onions are browning and tender and sweet, reducing heat to medium if necessary.
  If using pizza stone, sprinkle pizza stone with cornmeal.  Spread dough and smear the bbq sauce over the dough.  Sprinkle chicken over bbq sauce.  spinkle cheeses over chicken.  Top the cheese with the onions.  Cook for 8-12 minutes, until crust is browning on bottom and top is golden.  Sprinkle pizza with cilantro.  Cut it and enjoy!

Pizza Dough and Margherita Pizza

I have made homemade pizza dough many times and am always very disappointed.  It comes out hard and tough.  Edible, but barely.  I follow directions pretty well, so I guess they were just bad recipes.  I finally found a great one!!  It was fabulous!  YAY!
Okay, so enough rejoicing and on to the recipe!  I apologize for the shape of my pizza's.  I tried the method in their directions telling me to make the pizza and transfer it to the hot pizza stone (not possible), and will tell you how to do it right.  The key is, make this around 2 pm, if possible or day before and chill after first rise. 

PIZZA DOUGH 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup very warm water (110 degrees, I used thermometer)
• 1 envelope (2 1/2 tsp.) active yeast
• 1 1/4 cups room temp. water
• 2 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 cups bread flour (I used almost 5 to get it to hold together)
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• olive oil for greasing bowl

DIRECTIONS:

Measure  the 1/2 cup warm water in glass measuring cup.  Sprinkle in yeast and let stand for 5 minutes until it swells.  Stir with wooden spoon to ensure it is all incorporated.  Add the reamins water and olive oil and stir.

Place flour, salt and sugar into bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment.  Combine dry ingredients.  Slowly add wet ingredients and mix until a cohesive mass forms.  Swith out paddle with hook attachment and turn on low for about 5 minutes to knead, adding flour if necessary so it is not too soft or sticky.  (NOTE:  Will still be very soft and somewhat sticky, just want it somewhat workable, for me that meant about another 3/4 cup flour than the 4 called for).  Put into oiled bowl and turn so top is also oiled and cover with plastic wrap.  Let rise for 2 or more hours(I let mine go 2.5 hrs.).
Preheat oven to 500 degrees with pizza stone inside for 30 minutes.  Press to deflate and divide into 2 equal pieces.  (Here is where you chill if desired)Put them both on floured surface and cover with a damp towel.  Leave for 10-30 minutes.  (can use pizza peel here or parchment on cookie sheet, but I opted to do it this way)  Remove stone from oven and sprinkle with cornmeal.  Pick up a dough.  Should spread really easy into circle.  Get into shape as much as possible because once on the stone it will somewhat seal the shape.  Place on stone.  Top as desired. Cook until cheese is golden and crust begins to color, 8-12 minutes.

For a variation mix in some Italian herbs to the dough.
For Margherita Pizza:

• 2 garlic cloves
• 1.5 TBSP EV olive oil
• some oregano 
• mozzarella
• fresh sliced tomatoes 
• thinly sliced basil
• salt and pepper

Mix olive oil, garlic and some oregano and spread over dough with fingers.  Top with cheese, tomatoes and basil and salt and pepper.

Pesto Caramelized Onion Pizza

Not really sure what to call this pizza.  Everyone in my family just calls it "Beck's pizza".  I will not lie, this pizza is a lot of work.  But it is so worth it.  I get regular requests from my family for it.  I do not think is the most appetizing looking pizza, but it is one of the best tasting ever.
I have tried making my own dough with a bunch of different recipes and I am always disappointed.  So, I usually make it with Wegman's pizza dough.  However, we have no local Wegman's.  But recently, I found a local pizzeria with a great dough and was able to buy the dough for $2.00 each.  You can ask your local pizzeria with your favorite dough if they sell their dough.  This is my favorite pizza.   Update: now making own pizza dough! 


PESTO PIZZA (Beck's Pizza)

INGREDIENTS:

• pizza dough
• 1 head garlic, roasted
• olive oil
• 4 oz. goat cheese
• 1 large sweet onion, caramelized
• 1/2 c. fresh pesto (I bought from local grocer, Sam's or Costco)
• 2-3 vine ripened tomatoes sliced and seeded
• 2 cups mozzarella

DIRECTIONS:

Roasted Garlic:  Preheat oven to 350. Take whole bulb of garlic and cut top off so all cloves are exposed.  Put on piece of tinfoil and drizzle with 1-2 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper.  Place in oven for 45 min-1hr until golden brown and soft.  Squeeze bulb and remove from casings into a bowl. 

Caramelized onions:  Slice onion thinly and put in skillet with 2 tbsp olive oil and  tbsp of butter.
Salt and pepper.  Cook over med./ med. high heat for 20-30 minutes, stirring every few minutes until all of them are browned, soft and sweet.

For pizza: 
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Spray pizza sheet with nonstick spray.  Spread pizza dough and place in oven and bake for 5 min to parbake.  Take out when no longer sticky to the touch.

In a small bowl place goat cheese.  Drizzle with tbsp of EVOO and mix, adding more olive oil while mixing, until pliable and spreadable.  Add in roasted garlic and mash into goat cheese until well combined (okay if there are still chunks of garlic).

Assembly:
Spread goat cheese garlic mix on parbaked pizza dough.  Spread caramelized onions over the top.  Top with
1-1.5 cups of mozz. cheese.  Place sliced tomatoes on top.  Top tomatoes with cheese (may not need full 2 cups.  Eyeball it!).  Bake for 12-15 minutes until cheese is golden and bubbly and bottom of crust is light brown.
Remove from oven and with spoon, drizzled/smear pesto over cheese to taste (may not need full 1/2 cup).  Cut and enjoy!