Califonication - BBQ Chicken Pizza

I married quite the pizza snob. I guess it comes with the territory since he is from Illinois but I had no idea how much of one he actually was until the first time we tried to agree upon toppings. It was like trying to decide on a name for our first born. Pizza is something we do well around here. It is tasty and EVERYONE eats it so that makes this momma happy! I feel better about feeding it to my kids when it is all made in house. The salesman is a meat man so we typically do a sausage and pepperoni pie but I finally convinced him to try my BBQ Chicken pizza a few years back, and with a lot of hesitation he finally gave in and gave it his stamp of approval. I love it! I first had BBQ Chicken at The California Pizza Kitchen. They have lovely pizzas and they think very highly of them because of what they are charging for them. They are good...but I mean, when did pizza ever need to start costing so much money? I am way too cheap to pay their prices so I came up with my own version and it has been a staple in this house ever since. It has such a nice balance of sweet and heat, creamy and crunchy and a good freshness about it. I recommend that you make your dough from scratch but if you are limited on time then get a dough ball from your favorite store. Trader Joe's has dough balls for .99 each which is great. I will try to post our recipe soon, but this will have to do for now.

1 pizza dough ball
2 Tbsp coarse ground cornmeal
1/2-3/4 cup good quality BBQ sauce, we love Sweet Baby Rays honey
1-2 chicken breasts- sprinkled with burger seasoning, roasted at 425 for 25 minutes then sliced thin
2 cup shredded monterey jack cheese (can also use Gouda or white cheddar)
1 quarter of a red onion VERY thinly sliced
3 strips of bacon cooked and crumbled
Garlic Salt
Chili Powder
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro

Preheat your oven to 450...the hotter it is, the better it cooks!

Sprinkle your cornmeal onto a large cookie sheet or pizza stone. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is the right size then gently pick it up and move it over to your pan. It is easier to roll it out on the counter in my opinion. If the dough is super cold, pot it in the oven for around 15-20 seconds then it should roll out perfectly for you.

Spread a thin layer of BBQ sauce onto the dough. Sprinkle the chicken, bacon, onions and cheese evenly over the crust. Lightly sprinkle the pie with garlic salt and chili powder.

Bake for around 15 minutes until cheese has melted and crust is lightly browned. Remove and sprinkle with fresh cilantro. Cut and eat.

Enjoy Y'all!