Chicken Pesto Pizza

I have a love of all things pesto.

A few weeks ago I made some homemade pesto and we used it for a few different recipes, my favorite being this Chicken Pesto Pizza.

This is a super easy recipe and as long as you have the ingredients in your fridge at all times you can easily throw one together at the last minute for lunch or dinner or even an after school snack.

I made my homemade pizza dough for this recipe but you could very easily use a Boboli or store bought dough to make this pizza.

Here's what you need:

For the dough

3-1/2 - 4 cups flour
1 Tbs. Italian Seasoning
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. granulated garlic
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/3 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1-1/2 cups warm water
1 package or 2-1/4 tsp. yeast
1/2 Tbs. sugar
1-2 Tbs. olive oil for oiling the bowl

For the pizza

2 chicken breasts (small or 1 large) cooked and diced
1/2 - 3/4 cup Pesto di Basilico, or store bought pesto
1/2 - 3/4 cup Italian cheese blend shredded cheese
3 Tbs. fresh grated Parmesan

Place 1-2 Tbs. olive oil in the bottom and up the sides of a large bowl and set aside.

To make the dough, place the yeast and sugar in the bottom of a stand mixer bowl with 1-1/2 cups warm water (around 105 degrees F) and stir then set aside.  The yeast will be all puffy looking when it is ready to use, about 5 - 10 minutes.

 

In a bowl mix 3-1/2 cups flour and the rest of the seasonings and Parmesan cheese.

 

Pour the flour mixture into the yeast mixture and mix until combined.

 

You may add up to another 1/2 cup of flour to the mixture until it is the right consistency.  The dough will be a little sticky but not extremely so.  

Using a rubber spatula scrape the dough into the oiled bowl and turn to completely coat in oil.

 

Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

When ready to make the pizza preheat the oven to 500 degrees.  If using a pizza stone, place this in the oven while the oven is cold so that it can preheat with the oven.

When ready to use place the dough on a piece of parchment (for easy transferring) or a very floured pizza peel and press out with your fingers until you get the right shape and size.  This dough will make 1 - 16 inch, thick crust or 2 - 10 inch thin crust pizzas.

You can also use a pizza pan for cooking this pizza.  I prefer the crispiness of a pizza stone myself.

 

Add the pesto.

 

Add the chicken and cheeses, as much as you would like.  Bake for 10 minutes or until desired doneness.

 

Let cool a few minutes before slicing. This may not be perfectly round (this time, lol) but it sure is tasty!

Serves - about 4 - 5 adults per pizza

Enjoy!

Here's the handy printable - Chicken Pesto Pizza