RED PEPPER PESTO BBQ CHICKEN PIZZA with Caramelized Onions

It started as a challenge and ended as the among the best pizza I have ever eaten.


A few weeks ago, Penny from LAKE LURE COTTAGE, introduced me to her recipe for Roasted Red Pepper Pesto.  That recipe proved very useful indeed, as I have used it for a dip with Ritz crackers (a simple cracker for a simple guy).  I added some pineapple and made some Rum Poached Scallops with a Roasted Pepper - Pineapple Pesto.


Then, just a couple days ago, I used another of Penny's recipes to make... 
RED PEPPER PESTO PASTA PRIMAVERA another use for a Rotisserie Chicken.  This pesto was quickly becoming a favorite ingredient!  The challenge came when Penny made a comment on my pasta...

Penny said...

I always love the way you adapt recipes. You done good too my friend. That red pepper pesto is very versatile. Wait till you try it on pizza! But this pasta is a perfect vehicle for your rotisserie chicken. How about a red pepper pesto chicken Pizza?

OK, I should be able to do this.  It's just a pizza.

So, I trudged off to the store that sells the rotisserie chickens.  I've covered that subject before... How can they sell them fully cooked and seasoned for only $6 when a raw one costs $10???  But I digress...

With another cooked chicken under my arm, I spent the walk home pondering what type of pizza to make with the two ingredients already established, chicken and pesto.  I was able to have my laptop under the other arm, and found a hotspot during my walk.  Well, actually I did a little research before I went to the store, but I did ponder the research while walking...

A pesto pizza is not your standard Domino's.  The pesto replaces the pizza sauce.  No sauce... well, this was going to be something brand new.  I've never done that before.  So, I spent the next 6 miles walking uphill, pondering all the things I have never done before.  My thoughts strayed, but eventually I got back to the pizza.  Really, since the pesto has so much flavor, so many ingredients, my choices for the pizza were simple... Keep the rotisserie taste of the chicken, or add a new flavor.  I added a new flavor... well, three new flavors...

BBQ sauce for the chicken

Caramelized onions instead of raw onions

It's not your Grandmother's HERBES de PROVENCE

Oh, and I made my own fresh dough

Here's what I did...

Pizza dough is easy... 

3 cups all purpose Flour

2 tsp (1 package) active dry Yeast

2 TBS Canola Oil

2 TBS Sugar

1 cup warm Water

Mix everything together.  Forms a ball of dough.  You may need to add a bit more flour.  No need to let it rise.  I went ahead and formed into pizza dough shape (I don't have a round pan, so it was old school in my rectangular cookie pan).  It took me about an hour to cut, dice, chop, sauté, and get the ingredients ready for this pizza.  So, that hour was spent letting the dough rise in the pan.  It did.

First thing i did for the toppings was to start the onions caramelizing...

2 TBS Butter

2 TBS Brown Sugar

1 BIG Onion

It takes time... Melt the butter, add the Br Sugar and cut the onions into thick rings (and then cut those in half).  Simmer on medium for about 40 minutes.  You will know when they start to brown.

meanwhile (lots of pans and choppers going at once)...

Start chopping the chicken.  I used 1/2 of the bird, breast meat and thigh (I ate the leg and wing...sorry, was hungry).

I added a bit of BBQ sauce and sautéed for a few minutes to coat and warm.

Next, i needed to make the pesto.  This is the easiest, fastest part, as it is all done in my mini chopper...

RED PEPPER PESTO: 

2 large red bell peppers, washed
3 garlic cloves, chopped
3 tablespoons pine nuts
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt, if needed

That is Penny's original recipe.  I wanted to avoid the moisture that would make my dough soggy, so I left out the oil, and due to budget issues (I am cheap), I substituted peanuts for pine nuts.  Even without the oil, I put the pesto in my hand and squeezed out a lot of wet before I layered it on the dough.

So, finally, it is time to start assembling the pizza...

I could have put the pesto on the top of the pizza, as the last ingredient.  Would have toasted the garlic and peppers more and changed the taste.  More for looks than anything else, I chose to put the pesto on the bottom. 

Then topped the pesto with the onions and chicken...

Topped with some freshly grated Mozzarella Cheese... And BTW, buy the bricks and grate yourself.  It has much more flavor than the packages of pre-grated cheese.  The bricks are cheaper and because it has more flavor, you do not have to use as much... a twofer savings.

Then I added a sprinkling (couple teaspoons) of my herb mixture, It's not your Grandmother's HERBES de PROVENCE.  I make up a bag full every six months or show.  Allows me to effortlessly add a bunch of flavors without having to mix each time.  This is a great thing to have around your spice drawer.

I also topped with some very thinly sliced Roma tomatoes...

Baked at 375 degrees (preheated oven) for 20 minutes...

Penny, I wish you could taste this...

Lots of garlic (the pesto has a lot of garlic)

Lots of cheese (the pesto has a lot of Parmesan Cheese, and it is topped with Mozzarella)

Lots of Chicken (a great way to use one of those cheap rotisserie chickens)

Lots of sweet (the caramelized onions)

Lots of tang (the BBQ sauce)

That's a lot of Pizza...

 

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