Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Roasted Garlic and Chicken Pizza

Everything about this pizza is my favorite.


Thing #1: It has cheese. A lot of cheese. If you know me at all, you know I have a serious thing for cheese. When I was a kid I used to take handfuls of cheese, melt it on a plate in the microwave, and eat it with a fork.

Extreme cheese love.


Thing #2: It has garlic. Ask the man in my house... I "garlicify" EVERYTHING. I'm one of those people that would rather have something garlicky for breakfast over pancakes. Or french toast.

I probably smell great all the time.


Thing #3: Well it has a bunch of other good stuff too. Like chicken. And homemade dough. And cheese.

Okay, so now that we've established this is my perfect pizza I should probably tell you how to make it. I'm proud to say that this particular recipe is completely my own creation...aside from the fact that there are probably a million other garlic and chicken pizza recipes... I didn't read those. I made this one up.


The star ingredient on this pizza is the roasted garlic. If you've never had it before, it's not as potent as fresh garlic... so you have an excuse to use a lot of it.

ROAST YOUR GARLIC. It is amazing. And super easy.


Ok I guess I lied. I didn't make up the dough. I totally use the recipe off the back of the yeast packet, but I swear it's the best. I like to let the dough rise even though it isn't required. The garlic roasts for 30 minutes anyway, so you have time.


I make a quick white sauce with cream cheese, parmesan, and italian seasoning. This sauce really is customizable. Honestly the inspiration behind the sauce is Philadelphia Cooking Creme. I saw a recipe online one day that called for the cooking creme, but I didn't have any and had no intentions of driving all the way into town for it. So I made my own. I won't claim its as easy as the creme, but its tasty. Thats the whole point anyway.

Layer everything on your incredible homemade dough. Top with tons of cheese. Bake.

And no that is not too much garlic.



Roasted Garlic and Chicken Pizza

Ingredients:
Crust:
1 3/4 - 2 1/4 cups flour
1 envelope Fleischmann's Pizza Yeast
1 1/2 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup warm water
3 tbsp olive oil
Sauce:
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
4 oz cream cheese
2 cups of milk
1/3 cup shredded parmesan
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp rosemary
1/4 tsp marjoram
1/4 tsp oregano
(you can use 1-2 tsp italian seasoning in place of previous 4 ingredients)
salt and pepper to taste
Toppings:
1-2 heads of roasted garlic, cut into small chunks
1/2 onion, sliced
2 chicken breasts, cubed and cooked
2 cups mozzarella cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

For the dough: Combine 1 cup of flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add water and oil and mix until well blended. Gradually add the remaining flour until a soft dough ball is formed. The dough will be slightly sticky. Knead on a floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 4 minutes. Allow dough to rise in a covered bowl for 1/2 - 1 hour.

For the sauce: Melt the butter in a sauce pan and the whisk in the flour until well combined. Slowly add the milk stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Add cream cheese and parmesan and stir until melted. Add the remaining seasonings. Watch the consistency of the sauce and add more milk as desired. Depending on the heat of my stove and the consistency of the cheese, I sometimes add a little more milk so it's not too thick.

Spread your dough onto a cookie sheet or pizza stone. Top with sauce, garlic, chicken, onions, and cheese. Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and crust is browned.


No one has ever not liked this.

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