Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Last Friday, we had a hankerin' for pizza (really, though, when don't we have a hankerin' for pizza?!). I wanted to try a topping flavor we'd never had before, and for whatever reason--even though I'm not a fan of chicken wings--a buffalo chicken pizza came to mind. Nate loves wings, so I knew he'd be all for it.

I really just made up the pizza as I went, which was kind of fun. You can add or take away whatever ingredients you want or don't want, but I wouldn't recommend piling on too many toppings. The only thing I would change about making this next time is that I would use a thicker crust or maybe a premade crust (like a Boboli). I love thin crust pizza, but with such a buttery sauce, it got a little messy and a bit soggy.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza
-1 bag of premade pizza dough (it's easiest to work with when it's room temperature)
-3 tbs. Frank's Red Hot sauce
-2 tbs. Cholula hot sauce
-3 tbs. butter
-about 2 tbs. ranch dressing
-about 1/2 cup red onion, chopped
-1 chicken breast
-about 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
-salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

In a small saucepan, melt butter. Stir in both Frank's Red Hot and Cholula and stir to combine.
Cut the chicken in about 1-inch pieces and coat with some salt, pepper and garlic powder in a skillet.. Pour in hot sauce and butter mixture. Cook chicken on medium-high until no longer pink (about 7 minutes), chopping it as it cooks to make smaller pieces. Set aside once cooked.
Spray a small skillet with cooking spray, and cook onions on medium-high until tender.
Roll out dough on a floured surface. My crust never ends up being in a perfect circle, but I figure that's OK--it all tastes the same! Place dough on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Prick a few times with a fork. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 for about 5 minutes (you'll just want to cook the crust a bit so it's not so soggy).

Take dough out of the oven and leave on the baking sheet. Coat crust with ranch dressing, then top with chicken mixture and red onions. Cover with shredded cheese.

Bake in the oven, again at 350, for about 10 minutes or until cheese starts to brown. Turn on the broiler for a few minutes if desired.

The taste of the pizza was really, really, good--it was good leftover the next day, too. Next time, in addition to the thicker crust, I would maybe leave out the ranch. While I love ranch, and I know ranch/bleu cheese is a vital part of chicken wings, you couldn't really taste it, as the butter and hot sauce taste really over powered everything. I had my pizza with some celery sticks, to keep with the buffalo wing theme!












3 comments:

  1. My mouth is watering. I can smell it from across the Internet.

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  2. I know it sounds moot, but making Buffalo Chicken Pizza with pizza sauce too is sooooooo good! There is something about how the tomato sauce, chicken and buffalo sauce mix that makes it tangy, sweet and savory all at once. Just pick or make a basic smooth spaghetti sauce and you're golden.

    I also put Blue Cheese on top.

    Nice blog...I like the clean, crisp lines with grey and orange.

    Good Stuff!

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  3. @Dan: My mouth is watering just thinking about it! Mmm ...

    @Heidi: Thanks for the comment and kind words about the blog. I was wondering how pizza sauce would work. That sounds really pretty good--I'll have to do that next time! I'm not a huge bleu cheese fan, but buffalo chicken anything seems to call for bleu cheese!

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