Chicken, Bacon, Garlic, and Basil White Pizza
- Sponge: 1 to 2 days in advance
- Dough rise: 1½ hours
- Ingredient prep: 20 minutes
- Pizza assembly: 10 minutes
- Pizza baking time: 10 to 15 minutes
Ingredients
- Two 16-inch pizza pans
- Parchment Paper (or instead of parchment paper bake directly on a pizza stone)
Pizza Dough:
Pizza Sauce:
Olive Oil For Crust:
Chicken and Bacon Mixture:
- 4 cups, cooked chicken cut into small pieces
- 8 slices bacon, baked or fried until crisp, cooled, and chopped into small pieces
- 1 cup creamy white pizza sauce
Red Onion:
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
Cheese topping:
- 8-ounces grated mozzarella cheese, low moisture part skim (2 cups)
- 2 cups grated Parmesan
Basil Topping:
- 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
Instructions
-
If you prefer a homemade pizza crust, prepare pizza sponge 1 to 2 days in advance of making pizza.
- Prepare creamy white pizza sauce; set aside.
- Pull the oven racks out of the oven and set on stovetop.
- Preheat oven:
Standard Oven: 425° | Convection Oven: 400°
- If you are using a pizza stone place a rack in the lower half of the oven:
Preheat oven:
Standard Oven: 425° | Convection Oven: 400°
- Tear off 2 sheets of parchment paper. Each one should be approximately 20 inches long.
- Place each piece of parchment paper on a separate work surface.
- Lightly dust another work surface with cornmeal.
- Punch down the dough.
- Turn dough out onto a floured surface.
- Knead dough for 30 seconds.
- Split the dough into two equal halves and place on the cornmeal dusted work surface.
- Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
- Place each piece of dough directly in the center of a piece of parchment paper.
- If you are using a baking stone place the dough directly on a generously floured pizza peel, press out into a 14-inch round, and assemble as directed below. NOTE: You will have to bake one pizza at a time.
- Beginning in the center of each dough ball use the palm of your hand to gently press each ball into a 14-inch round.
- Get out two 16-inch pizza pans.
- Slide each pizza pan under each of the two pizza rounds.
- Note that the pizza round and the parchment paper will both end up on top of the pizza pan.
- Brush the top of the dough with 2 tablespoons olive oil.
- Spread each pizza dough round with 1½ cups white pizza sauce.
- In a bowl, mix together the chicken, bacon, garlic, Parmesan, and the white pizza sauce that you set aside.
- Spoon the chicken mixture onto the pizza round.
- Sprinkle red onion over the chicken mixture.
- Sprinkle mozzarella and Parmesan cheese over the red onion.
- Add coarsely chopped basil to the top of the cheese mixture.
- Slide the parchment paper off of the pizza pan and directly onto the oven rack.
- Bake the pizza for approximately 10 to 15 minutes. The underside of bottom crust should be golden brown.
- If you have a convection oven you can bake 2 pizzas at the same time.
- To remove the pizza from the oven, slide a pizza pan or a pizza peel under the parchment paper then carefully grab the edge of the paper with your fingers and pull the paper and pizza onto the pan or peel.
- If you are baking the pizzas on a pizza stone, slide the pizza from the pizza peel onto the preheated baking stone. Baking time should be approximately 10 minutes.
- To remove the pizza from the pizza stone, slide the pizza peel under the pizza and remove the pizza from the oven.
- Cool for 10 minutes, cut and serve.
Comments
Salad goes great with pizza so why not serve up a Caesar salad with croutons or a bowl of crisp salad greens topped with Italian salad dressing and croutons?