Sunday, March 11, 2007

Pizza Part 2


I always say that there are two types of food that I will eat regardless be it fresh or frozen, good quality or so-so quality...crab and pizza!

I like pizza, a lot and I'll pretty much eat most types as long as it's not foul or tastes bad. Frozen is usually what I opt for when I'm at home since I've found nice organic pizzas in the freezer section at my local natural food store, but homemade is even better!

I cheated this time and used a frozen white bread dough. The last pizza I made (my first comestible creation in fact) was good, but took a lot of work. Plus the dough was whole wheat and very dense (but tasty nonetheless). So this time I thawed and rose as loaf of pre-made dough from the freezer section. I admit, I do live the refined white bread!

I also used my latest kitchen gadget, my new wooden pizza peel and backed the pizza on my old trusty stone.

Garlic Chicken & Balsamic Onion Pizza

1 lb frozen bread dough (thawed and doubled in size)
chicken thighs (cut into small pieces...you can use white meat, but I like dark)
1 T zesty salt free seasoning blend
6 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 small onion, small diced
2 T balsamic vinegar
olive oil
2 T tomato paste
variety of dry or fresh herbs
4 oz 5 blend Italian cheese (found prepackaged in the cheese case)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Saute the chopped chicken with the seasoning and garlic in small of amount of olive oil. Remove from pan and put in a dish. Sweat down the onions in same pan and deglaze with balsamic vinegar. Cook on low and slightly caramelize the onions (about 10 minutes). Remove and place in another bowl.

On a 14" pizza peel stretch out dough to form a 12" (approximate) crust. Dust the peel with corn meat to ensure that your pizza will slip off easily. You can make the pizza on a pan or on the stone, but it's best to cook the pizza on a hot stone.

Spread out the tomato paste, sprinkle liberally with varied herbs of choice (I used basil, oregano and fennel seed). Then take the onions and sprinkle on pizza, followed by the chicken. Cover with cheese and bake on hot pizza stone for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and the crust is golden brown and delicious! Time to dig in!