Pizza Talk (BBQ Chicken w/alfredo and BACON)

i LOVE LOVE pizza!!  Usually when we make pizza we use this Versatile Bread Dough.  The recipe makes a ton, so I use what I need, divide the rest into freezer bags and freeze for next time.

I really LOVE BBQ chicken pizza w/Alfredo..mmmmmmm!!!  My husband's favorite is pepperoni w/sliced jalapenos.  My other boys are split between the two.

A few years ago while I was attending a Scouting Round Table meeting, the guy taught us how to make dutch oven pizza.  It is delish.  He told us that the secret to good pizza is in the cheese.  He used half Provolone and half Monterrey Jack cheese.  The blend is SO yummy!!  It melts SO nice and doesn't 'stretch' and pull all of itself off the pizza as you eat it!  Since that meeting we have changed the way we make pizza in our house :)

My husband likes a thicker crust, but I like to make our pizza with a thin crust so that it is nice and crispy all the way to the middle.  I don't think there are many things that are worse than a soggy pizza crust in the middle of your pie!  Below is how I have found to make the perfect pizza...according to me anyway ;)

The Perfect BBQ Chicken Pizza w/Alfredo Sauce and Bacon

Ingredients:

Dough

Alfredo Sauce 

Monterrey Jack Cheese ~1/4 of a pound, grated

Provolone Cheese ~1/4 of a pound, grated

2 chicken breasts pounded thin, marinated in Italian Salad Dressing

Your Favorite BBQ Sauce 

Bacon, cut into small pieces, fried and drained of grease

Directions:  Grill your chicken.  Salt and Pepper your chicken, I also sprinkle a little onion powder on it when I am cooking it for the pizza.  When chicken is almost cooked through baste each side with BBQ sauce.  Chop your chicken, add additional BBQ sauce and set aside.  Roll out your dough to desired size of pizza(~1/4-1/2 inch thick), cover with kitchen towel.  Preheat your pizza stone to 475 degrees as you preheat oven, put the pizza stone into cold oven (unless your pizza stone directions say not to preheat).  When the stone is preheated, cover with a small amount of cornmeal.  Transfer dough to pizza stone, coat dough with a thin layer of Alfredo sauce.  Evenly arrange BBQ chicken over Alfredo sauce, we always add a little more BBQ sauce at this point...just drizzle it on.  Top with your grated cheese (mix cheese together first so you have a good mix of both in each bite).  Now add Bacon(obviously in the picture above I just tossed it on, you may want to arrange it more evenly).  If you put your bacon on top of the cheese, the bacon will stay crispy.  Bake at 475 for 13 minutes on the bottom rack of your oven.  Remove and let cool a bit, cut...serve...enjoy!!

Same process for other types of pizza, just different toppings...same cheese :)  

PS, for pepperoni pizza we use Hunt's 4 cheese spaghetti sauce from the can.  Inexpensive and yummy!

PSS, Italian dressing is a SUPER simple...SUPER yummy marinade for grilling chicken!!

Another note....if you don't have a pizza stone, round cake pans work SO well for making pizza.  Just spray a little cooking spray in the bottom, add a dusting of corn meal, dough and toppings.  When we used to use the cake pans, I would put my topping clear to the edge of the pizza.

Versatile Bread Dough

Today I am going to share with you a bread dough recipe that I use to make lots of yummy food :)  It makes A LOT of dough.  Enough for 6 or 7 loaves of bread.  You can also use it for rolls(If I am making rolls, I usually use THIS recipe..unless I am in a hurry and have some of this in the refrigerator already) and pizza dough.  I usually make a batch, use part of it for pizza or whatever and then divide the dough into bags to freeze for later.

You will need a large mixer to make this recipe.  I use a Bosch.  Or...if you are ambitious, you could always mix by hand.

This week I will share the recipes or processes to make the yummy stuff in the bottom picture.

Versatile Bread Dough

Ingredients:

3/4-1 cup sugar (depends on how sweet you like your dough, I usually do 3/4)

3 T yeast

6 1/2 cups warm water

2 T salt

3/4 cup oil

~16-20 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:  Add the sugar and yeast to the warm water and let sit until the yeast starts to bubble.  Add oil and 5 cups of flour, mix.  Add salt, mix.  Add enough flour to make a soft, but not too sticky dough..when the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the mixer.  Knead in mixer for 5-6 minutes, or knead by hand.  Put the dough into a large greased bowl and cover until doubled, 45-60 minutes(if making bread or rolls).  I like to cover my dough with Saran wrap that has been sprayed with cooking spray and then with a towel, so the dough doesn't stick to the towel.  Form into bread loaves or rolls, place into greased pans.  Cover and let rise again until doubled, 30-60 minutes.  Bake at 350 until golden brown(mine usually takes 30-35 minutes, but it may depend on altitude, loaf size and your oven).  Take out and butter tops.  I let mine sit in a pan on a cooling rack for approx 5 minutes and then remove the bread from the pan and let cool on the cooling rack or a towel.  If you leave it in the pan for too long, it will begin to 'sweat' and then it will be 'wet' on the bottom of your loaf when you take it out.

Note:  If you are going to freeze this and then make it into bread....remove from freezer, let thaw on counter until room temperature.  Form into loaves or rolls, let rise until doubled in size and proceed as above.

Top left: Pepperoni pizza(obviously :)), Top right:  BBQ chicken pizza with Alfredo and bacon, Bottom left:  Pull-apart cinnamon bread, Bottom right:  Cinnamon pizza pizza(inspired by Papa John's Cinnapie)