our signature pizza

Way back in the dating days we discovered this amazing pizza at California Pizza Kitchen, with barbecue sauce on it!  YES, BBQ sauce.  I tell you what, BBQ sauce and pizza dough are a match made for heaven!  Now that we're married and on a budget the "eating out every weekend" days are gone but luckily we found a way to bring this amazing pizza home to us.  

The pizza that tickled our taste buds was their signature BBQ chicken pizza.  Back in college I stumbled upon Trader Joe's pizza dough and something magical happened, I realized I could make pizzas at home! Now that we have mastered our pizza-making skills, going out to get pizza just doesn't feel right.  I love knowing what is in my pizza and that it is homemade.  One day I keep telling myself that I will finally try my hand at making dough from scratch, so if you have any good recipes just send them my way!

Here's what you'll need:

TJ's almost whole wheat pizza dough (in the refrigerated section by the hummus)

BBQ sauce (we use TJ's brand)

cornmeal

red onion sliced

cilantro finely chopped

chicken breasts sliced into bite-size pieces

zucchini (just for my side) sliced 

and mozzarella cheese

Don't forget your sweaty husband.  He worked up an appetite when you schooled him on your run ;)  This is our favorite recipe to make because we both help in the process.  He's in charge of preparing the dough and I always chop and cook any ingredients for our toppings.  

We've found the perfect way to make pizzas: let your dough rest.  

When we first started making pizzas it was so frustrating and tiring kneading out the dough.  It always turned into an awkward rectangle/circle shape, sometimes a heart.  If you let it rest for about 20 minutes before trying to roll it out you will have the best luck (and by rest I mean just take it out of the fridge).

Line your pan with cornmeal so the pizza dough doesn't stick.  

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  

Then, slice up your chicken breasts and season with salt, pepper, and Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute.  I do the chicken while the Mr. takes care of the dough.  

Saute your chicken slices about 4-5 minutes, until each side is slightly golden.  

Lay the dough onto your pan and start kneading it with your fingers until it is the same thickness all the way around.  

The Mr. takes his fingers and crimps the edges to make a little bit of crust.  (We're thin pizza fans we we push ours out all the way to the edge of our pan.)

Next, the Mr. tops the pizza dough with BBQ sauce.  We were on the last drop of ours, but I highly recommend being generous.  Evenly spread your sauce onto your dough.  

Now you're ready to assemble your pizza!

First we sprinkle on our cheese and layer on the onion and chicken.  Then we add another little layer of cheese and add on the remainder of our veggies.  For a fun hawaiian taste you could add sliced pineapple.  The Mr. isn't a fan of fruit on his pizza so we have yet to taste that, but I always like to sneak in extra veggies so this time we added zucchini.

Then we put it in the oven and let the amazing smell linger throughout our kitchen and living room.  You'll have to wait 12-15 minutes until you can take out this sweet goodness.  

You'll know it is done when the cheese is melted and the edges are golden brown.  

So good!

This is our signature recipe and we always make it when people come over for dinner.  We love that we get to work together as a team making something delicious while satisfying our need for pizza every now and then.

Hope you give it a try!!!