Roasted Chicken And Basil Pizza

With Olive Oil And Spinach

Lunch
Dinner
Leftovers

My Thoughts

This is a really quick and easy meal for a weeknight. It's got everything, a garlicky basil pesto sauce, fresh spinach, leftover roasted chicken breast (okay, it's a little more work if you have to roast your own chicken, but not much!), four rich and creamy cheeses, all on a store bought pizza crust. The Little Weirdo is standing by and drooling!

The How To Do It

  1. If you are roasting your own chicken breasts, preheat your oven to 450° F, otherwise skip to step 6.
  2. Heat a tablespoon of canola oil large cast iron pan over medium/high heat.
  3. Coat the chicken breasts in oil and season. For this, salt and pepper is enough. If you want to season with other herbs and spices go for it.
  4. Once the oil in the pan is hot, sear the breasts until they turn a golden brown. This should take about 3-4 minutes per side. Once the first side is seared, flip the chicken and insert a probe thermometer into the thickest part of the thickest breast.
  5. Once the chicken has seared, slide the skillet into the oven and roast the chicken until your thermometer reaches 165° F. If you do not have the probe type of thermometer, it will take 15-20 minutes (maybe a little longer if the chicken breasts are on the larger side).
  6. While the chicken is roasting, thinly slice the red onions, mince the garlic (not too fine, you want it a little chunky), and grate your cheeses.
  7. While the chicken breast is resting, turn the heat on your oven up to at least 550° F. That's as high as my oven will go. You're wanting to get it as hot as possible. You don't have to go this route. You can bake it at a lower temperature and give the pizza more time in the oven. You want the spinach to wilt, the onions and garlic to soften, and the cheese to get all bubbly and golden brown in spots.
  8. Once the chicken breast has rested and is cool enough to cut (if it's too hot to touch wait a minute!), thinly slice the breasts until you have enough to cover the pizza. You don't want to over top the pizza. Notice in the pizza the pieces of chicken are evenly spaced.
  9. To assemble the pizza, roll out the dough and, using a fork, poke small holes all over the pizza dough. This will keep it from getting giant bubbles in it (some bubbles will usually happen and are just fine).
  10. Now drizzle the olive oil over the dough and spread it evenly using an brush or back of a spoon (or your hand if you are so inclined). now do the same with the basil pesto. Sprinkle all of the mozzarella, provolone, and fontina cheeses. Now sprinkle on about 3/4 of the Parmesan cheese (keep some to sprinkle on after the pie has baked). Once the cheeses are added, evenly distribute the red onion, garlic, spinach, and chicken.
  11. Bake in the oven for eight-and-a-half minutes. That's my oven at 550° F, it may vary for you. The first few times you make a pizza in your oven, make sure to keep a close watch on it. Yours may bake faster or slower.
  12. Once the pie has baked and the spinach is wilted, the onions and garlic are and soft, and the cheese is bubbly in the middle and golden brown around the edges, remove the pizza from the oven and let it rest for 5-10 minutes.
  13. Slice and serve with a sprinkle of the remaining Parmesan, fresh basil (if you have it) and a light dusting of granulated garlic and red pepper flakes (okay cayenne pepper since The Picky Eater can't have seeds).


Ingredients

Roasted Chicken And Basil Pizza
1 dough
pizza dough
*store bought
2 breasts
chicken breast
¼ cup
mozzarella
¼ cup
provolone
¼ cup
fontina cheese
¼ cup
Parmesan
¼ cup
baby spinach
½ sml
red onion
4 cloves
garlic
2 tbsp
basil paste
*store bought
6 lvss
sweet basil
½ tsp
granulated garlic
½ tsp
red chili flakes
*optional
2 tbsp
canola oil
2 tbsp
olive oil
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