Chicken Pesto Pizza
As much as I love classic red sauce on my pizza, sometimes you just gotta switch it up.
This Chicken Pesto Pizza is a good one. Fresh basil pesto...fresh mozzarella...perfectly seasoned chicken...kalamata olives...calabrian chilies...goat cheese...pine nuts...my, oh my! Can you say YUM?!
Part of what makes creating your own pizzas at home fun is the freedom to do what you want. Be creative! For that reason, I'm only ever going to give you some tips and a list of ingredients. Put however much of each topping on that you want! My only piece of advice: less is more when it comes to pizza. Too many toppings will weigh down your crust. Too much sauce will make it soggy.
Enjoy!
Chicken Pesto Pizza
Prep Time: 3 hours 20 minutes (includes rise time for the dough)
Cooking Time: 15-18 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours and 35 minutes
Servings: 2-3
INGREDIENTS:
1 Pizza Dough Ball
3-4 Tbsp of Basil Pesto
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
Chicken, cooked + seasoned with salt, pepper and paprika
Kalamata Olives
2 Calabrian Chilies, finely minced
Goat Cheese
Pine Nuts
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. You want the oven to be HOT!
Cut up chicken into bite size pieces. Season with salt + pepper + paprika. Heat olive oil over medium heat on the stove. Cook chicken. When cooked through, remove from heat and set aside. cooked
Tear up the fresh mozzarella.
Prepare your pizza dough. Using your hands, slowly work the dough into a round(ish) shape, roughly 14-16" in diameter. Create a small crust around the perimeter of the dough but slightly rolling and twisting the edge of the dough at the same time.
Top your pizza with 3-4 Tbsp of sauce and place fresh pieces of mozzarella around the entire pizza. Make sure not cover the pesto entirely. You want that sauce poking through!
Top with chicken, kalamata olives and calabrian chilies.
Bake on a pizza stone for 14-16 minutes.
Pull the pizza from the oven when the cheese is nice and melted and starting to look golden brown. Sprinkle goat cheese and pine nuts drizzle fresh basil pesto. Wait 5 minutes to slice and serve!