BBQ Chicken Pizza

Nearly 12 years ago, my mom forced me to go into a little pizza restaurant in our hometown and fill out a job application.  Papa Murphy's...maybe you have heard of it...?  I begrudgingly did so, swearing that I would only work there for a few weeks, just until I found my dream job at somewhere more glamorous like...the mall.  Well guess what?!  That little job that I was keeping only to pacify my mom's desire for me to not be a lazy bum all summer...became a huge part of my life.  One in which, I officially finished today!!!  That is right...just short of 12 years!  I can't believe I even just said that!  I started working there the summer before my senior year and found, after only a few short months, that I not only loved the people I worked with, but that the owners of the company were marvelous!  I was an assistant manager and then a store manager for several years during college, and left the position just after my first baby turned one.  Then they offered me an incredible opportunity to work for them from my home, out of state, watching their security cameras weekly.  So that is what I have been doing for them the past 4 years, and it has been an incredible blessing to make a small income while my husband went to dental school. But since he is graduating next week and finally getting started on his career, I thought it was finally time to cut ties and focus on other things!  But I will always be thankful for that job!  

Since this seems like the ending of an era to me, I thought I'd go out by posting a re-creation of one of my favorite pizzas from Papa Murphy's...the BBQ Chicken.  You would think after so many years of working in one place, I would abhor the food.  But it is actually quite the opposite.  Papa Murphy's is still one of my favorite places to get pizza and I especially love their specialty pizzas.  They don't always carry the BBQ chicken, and in fact, not all stores even get it.  This past weekend, I had a sudden craving for it and decided to create my own version.  It was really yummy!  If you like BBQ sauce, then I think you will love this!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

*You can use whatever pizza dough recipe that you would like.  I like this one because it is easy and requires no rising.  I use it all the time when I need a quick dinner idea and it tastes great.  If making dough isn't your thing, purchase a ready made crust from the store and use it instead.

Fast and Easy Pizza Dough

3 cups flour, more or less
1 Tablespoon honey, heaping
1 Tablespoon oil, heaping
1 cup warm water
1 Tablespoon yeast
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

Topping

1-1/2 cups shredded or chopped cooked chicken
2 cups shredded mozzarella, divided
1/2 cup 3 Tablespoons your favorite BBQ sauce, divided
2 green onions, chopped
1 roma tomato, chopped


Preheat oven to 475 degrees.  If you are using a pizza stone, let the stone heat for at least 30 minutes in the oven before baking.

Mix all pizza dough ingredients together, except the flour.  Add the flour and knead for several minutes, then put into pan, pizza peel or pizza stone.

Combine the chicken and 1/4 cup BBQ sauce and mix until the chicken is covered.  Spread the remaining 1/4 cup + 3 Tablespoons BBQ sauce over the pizza dough.  Sprinkle about 1-1/2 cups mozzarella cheese over the sauce.  Sprinkle the chicken mixture over the mozzarella cheese.  Sprinkle the green onions and tomato on top.  Then cover with the rest of the mozzarella.

If baking in a sheet pan, bake for 12 minutes (checking often) until crust is browned and cheese is golden and bubbly.  If baking on the preheated pizza stone, slide pizza onto the stone and bake for about 8 minutes.  Makes 1 large pizza.

Recipe Source:  The Unsophisticated Kitchen using the pizza dough recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

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