June 18, 2010

All Dads Love Pizza

Being that it's almost Father's Day, I think that a pizza recipe is only fitting. In my mind there's not a dad out there who doesn't love pizza. I'm sure there is some dad somewhere in the good ole U.S.A. who has an aversion to the American staple, but that person lives a sad life I'm sure!

homemade pizza

One of the things I enjoy making the most is homemade pizza. I've been making it for over 3 years now, ever since Captain America and I decided it was easier and more fun to make pizza at home than get takeout. One of the biggest advantages to this? You can have your own pizza! The Captain and I have different tastes and he's a big eater, so it was just as easy to make our own.  I am anti-sauce, while he prefers lots of the stuff.  This situation leads me to my recipe today.  Just about the only pizza recipe Captain America and I both eat is my buffalo chicken pizza.  And yes you are correct if you are thinking..."that picture above is the oddest buffalo chicken pizza I've ever seen". That is in fact NOT the buffalo chicken pizza, but I couldn't for the life of me find those photos.

The pizza dough crust I use is straight from The Pioneer Woman.  I don't make a single edit to the recipe, it's that good.  For years I used a plain bread dough recipe for my breadmaker and add italian herbs, but this is so much better.  And you don't need a bread machine.  For the pizza dough recipe, click here.  This actually gives you the recipe for the pizza that I demonstrate above, if you're interested.  You can use any pan you'd like, but I prefer one of those specialty pizza pans with the holes in it. If you'd like to make my buffalo chicken pizza, follow the directions for the dough, and then see below.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Ingredients:
fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese (as much as you like!)  
fully cooked chicken (about 2 cups)
Frank's Red Hot Sauce (yes, this is THE buffalo sauce)
crumbed bleu cheese
finely chopped celery

To make the pizza:
Before you pat out the dough, put the mozzarella in the freezer for about 20 minutes.  This makes it a thousand times easier to cut.  Once the dough is patted out, mix the chicken and buffalo sauce in a bowl.  Be careful, because this sauce can be quite spicy, but add as much as you'd like.  Slice the mozzarella and place on the dough.  Sometimes I brush some extra hot sauce on the dough before, and sometimes not.  Then spread the chicken over the cheese and top with crumbled bleu cheese. 

Place in the oven until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly.  One thing I highly suggest is lining the bottom of your oven with foil.  For some reason this pizza tends to leak over the sides, depending on the pan you choose to use.  Once you remove the pizza from the oven, sprinkle the celery over the top.  Wait a few minutes before slicing.

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And there you have it folks.  Maybe make this for your dad this Father's Day.  Unfortunately I have to go out of town for Father's Day, so I am celebrating on Saturday with my dad.  Happy Father's Day dad, I love you!   

1 comment:

Unknown said...

yum! this sounds so good. i'm going to have to make it soon.