[Recipes Index] [World of Chefs]

Ingredients:

For the Pizza Dough:

• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 packet of active dry or fresh yeast
• 3/4 cup warm water at 105 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit
• 2 and 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil for dough mixture and additional for greasing bowl

For the Barbeque Sauce:

• 4 tablespoons Romeu extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
• 3 crushed and minced garlic cloves
• 1 cup tomato ketchup
• 2-1/2 cups of peeled, seeded and diced fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 4 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 whole cloves
• 2 crushed dried red chili peppers or 1 seeded and minced fresh red chili pepper (Vary the amount to taste)
• Sea salt

For the Pizza Toppings:

• 6 skinless and boneless chicken breasts
• 4 cups barbeque sauce
• 1 red onion sliced and separated into rings
• 2 cups shredded Fontal cheese
• 2 cups shredded smoked Gouda cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro

Preparation:

Pizza Dough:

Place a baking (or pizza) stone in the oven. (Preheating the oven will be done later).

Dissolve the yeast and the honey in a small bowl with 1/4 cup warm water. Set the bowl aside and let it rise for about ten minutes. In a kitchen mixer with the dough hook attachment, combine the flour and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the olive oil. When the yeast mixture has risen, add the yeast mixture and remaining warm water to the flour and knead on low speed until the dough easily pulls away from the bowl and the kneading process is finished. The dough texture should be smooth and elastic, but not sticky. If the dough sticks to the bowl or your fingers, add a tiny bit of flour and continue kneading until the desired texture is achieved. If the dough seems too hard and dry or if it crumbles, add a tiny bit of water to the kneading process until the dough becomes smooth and firm.

After kneading, transfer the dough to a bowl greased with extra virgin olive oil, cover with a damp towel and place the bowl in a warm, draft-free place for about one hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

After the dough has risen, place the dough on a wooden cutting board and divide the dough into six sections. Each section will be the base of a small individual pizza. Knead each section, form into the shape of a ball and cover the balls with a damp towel for about 20 minutes. If necessary, the dough balls can be refrigerated in plastic wrap for a day before you are ready to make the pizzas.

After the dough has rested and risen again, place each risen dough ball on a lightly floured surface. With a rolling pin or your hand, flatten each dough ball to make a circular pizza with the outer edge being slightly thicker than the center to prevent the pizza toppings from spilling out. Brush each pizza dough with olive oil before arranging the toppings. The oven should be preheated to 525 degrees Fahrenheit before use.

After the toppings are arranged on the pizzas, slide the pizzas onto a pizza paddle that has been dusted with cornmeal, which will enable the pizzas to slide off the paddle and onto the baking stone without sticking. We prefer to place the rolled-out pizza dough without toppings onto the cornmeal-covered pizza paddle before brushing the pizza with olive oil and before placing the toppings on the pizza because we find it easier to move a "fully loaded" pizza just once directly from the paddle into the oven and thereby avoiding the step of moving a full, uncooked pizza twice from the work board to the pizza paddle and then from the paddle into the oven.

After the toppings are placed on the pizzas, bake the pizzas on the baking stone in the preheated oven for approximately eight minutes. You will need to watch them carefully to not only ensure that the toppings are cooked and the cheese is melted, but that any sauces do not drip and that the pizzas do not overcook.

Pizza Dough Variations:

You can always add crushed garlic and/or fresh herbs such as minced thyme or rosemary to the pizza dough ingredients in order to harmonize the pizza bread with the toppings of your choice.

Barbeque Sauce:

In a sautŽ pan over low heat, heat the olive oil and sautŽ the chopped onion for approximately five minutes or until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the garlic and sautŽ for an additional two minutes. Add the ketchup, tomatoes, lemon juice, vinegar honey, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, cinnamon, cloves, chili pepper and salt to taste. Stir and mix the ingredients well, raise the heat and bring to a boil. When the sauce reaches boiling, reduce the heat to low and simmer gently, stirring frequently, for about two hours or until the sauce becomes very thick.

For the Pizza Toppings:

Marinate the chicken breasts in one cup of the barbeque sauce in a glass baking dish, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. When ready for use, take the chicken out of the refrigerator so that it returns to room temperature before cooking. Bake the chicken, which is steeped in the marinade in the glass baking dish in a preheated oven set to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for approximately twenty to thirty minutes until the chicken is no longer pink in the middle. Remove from oven, allow to cool and cut the chicken into small, easy-to-eat pieces.

On each flat, prepared pizza dough that has been brushed with extra virgin olive oil, place a layer of each cheese, pour the barbeque sauce over the cheeses, place the red onion slices and the cooked chicken pieces on the sauce and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. In addition to adding flavor and texture to the pizza and the sauce, the final drizzle of oil helps to moisten the onion slices and chicken pieces to prevent them from drying out in the hot oven. When the pizzas have finished baking, remove from oven, sprinkle with fresh cilantro and serve immediately while hot.

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