Dinner on the Balcony - BBQ Chicken Pizza

When we first moved in together, Tor and I would almost always pick up a frozen pizza while grocery shopping.  It was just so handy to have in the freezer for those Friday nights when you don't feel like cooking.  More often than not, that frozen pizza was a CPK BBQ Chicken Pizza, one of the hubby's favorites.  It's been a while since we've had a pizza in our freezer, mainly because I now work half days on Friday's and have time to cook.  And after seeing this post and this post I decided I had to remake an old favorite.

For my version, I took bits and pieces from the above recipes, as well as the one on the bottle of BBQ sauce I picked up.  I used pre-made pizza dough from Trader Joe's because I didn't have the time, or confidence, to tackle making my own yet.  The pizza turned out great with flavors just like our old favorite, but so much better!


BBQ Chicken Pizza
Pizza Dough
1 boneless skinless chicken breast
1 cup BBQ sauce - I used Gayle's BBQ Sauce from Whole Foods and loved it!
1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
8 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced
Cilantro to garnish

1.  Pour about 1/2 cup BBQ sauce over the chicken breast and marinate in an airtight container or Ziploc for at least 4 hours.

2.  Bake chicken breast at 350 for about 25-30 minutes, until cooked through.  Set aside to cool.   Turn oven up to 450. When chicken is cooled, chop into bite sized pieces.

3.  Roll out your pizza dough to your desired size.  I rolled mine out into a large rectangle and put it on a cookie sheet.

Note, if you use TJ's dough you need to take it out of the fridge and let it rest for 20 minutes before rolling out, otherwise it won't roll out very easily.

4.  Spread about another 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce onto the crust.  Arrange the mozzarella sliced on top of the sauce, then sprinkle the chicken over the cheese.  Top with the sliced onions.

5.  Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is nice and bubbly.  Sprinkle cilantro leaves over pizza.  Let cool a few minutes before slicing.

We enjoyed our slices with some red wine on our new balcony.  Sorry for the super dark picture - it was the best I could do while holding the camera on my lap!  Note the cooler turned into a makeshift table...

Don't worry, we got some real patio furniture the other weekend and even potted some fresh herbs.  We are really enjoying our little outdoor space, especially now that Summer seems to have officially arrived here in L.A!