BBQ Chicken Pizza

With football season in full swing, our intake of pizza has significantly increased. In an effort to keep things relatively healthy, however, I've been making our own, and I think I'm gonna be in the market for a pizza peel and baking stone in the near future so I can make my own dough! So, this month, I thought I'd share some pizza recipes during What's Cooking Wednesday. You might remember my traditional pizza recipe, so these pizzas will venture off the beaten path a bit! Enjoy!

BBQ Chicken Pieces:

10 ounces bonelss. skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4-inch cubes

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons favorite BBQ sauce (I like a spicy-sweet sauce)

For the Pizza:

2 9-inch pizza crusts (I'll try experimenting with homemade dough soon, I think, and I'll let you know how it goes!)

1/2 cup BBQ sauce (same kind you used for the chicken)

2 tablespoons shredded smoked Gouda cheese

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 small red onion, sliced into 1/8-inch pieces

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

For the chicken: In a large frying pan, cook the chicken in olive oil over medium-high heat until just cooked, 5-6 minutes. Do not overcook. Set aside in refrigerator until chilled through.  Once chilled, coat the chicken with BBQ sauce and set aside in the refrigerator.

For the pizza: If using a pizza stone and homemade dough, place the pizza stone in the center of the oven and preheat to 500 degrees for one hour before cooking pizza.

Use a large spoon to spread 1/4 cup BBQ sauce evenly over the prepared dough or crust. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon Gouda over the sauce. Cover with 3/4 cup mozzarella. Distribute half the chicken pieces evenly over the cheese. Place half the onion slices over the chicken. Sprinkle an additional 1/4 cup mozzarella over the top of the pizza.

Transfer pizza to the oven; bake until the crust is crisp and golden and the cheese at the center is bubbly, 8-10 minutes. When the pizza is cooked, carefully remove it from the oven; sprinkle 1 tablespoon cilantro over the hot surface.

Slice and serve!

Makes 2 9-inch pizzas!

Recipe adapted from The California Pizza Kitchen Cookbook by Larry Flax and Rick Rosenfield.