Barbeque Chicken Pizza with Candied Onions and Sour Cream

Pizza is one of the most wonderful things on this planet. A life without pizza would not be much of a life at all. Maybe pizza isn't something we should eat everyday of our lives but it is something we should eat often enough. The fun of pizza is the endless array of toppings and ways to combine them. As long as there is cheese and crust, the sky's the limit.

When Blake and I were in New Zealand, we had the barbeque pizza that inspired this pizza. Barbeque chicken pizzas can be a dime a dozen but at this restaurant they candied their red onions and added sour cream on top. Two pretty excellent moves so far as I'm concerned so I attempted to replicate. The results are delicious. I hope you all follow suit and give yourself over to the sheer delight that happens when you put mozzarella on a chewy crust with sweet BBQ sauce, a little jalapeno for spice, candied red onion, and tangy sour cream.

I'm also including my favorite crust recipe here. It's a slightly honeyed sweet, chewy crust. You can make it the night before and have it ready to use the next day. You can also go to your local Whole Foods or local pizzeria and buy pizza dough but I recommend trying your hand at homemade once.

Barbeque Chicken Pizza with Candied Onions and Sour Cream
Serves 4, Pizza crust recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour

Pizza Crust
1 tsp yeast
3 tbs honey
1 1/4 cups warm water, should be warm to the touch (not too hot to touch)
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbs olive oil

Combine yeast, water, and honey in a bowl. Let sit 5-8 minutes until foamy.

Using an electric mixer or with a wooden spoon by hand mix yeast mixture with both flours, salt, and olive oil. If using an electric mixer, use the dough hook to knead the dough for 7-10 minutes, until it slowly springs back when you indent it with your finger. You can also knead the dough by hand looking for the same springiness. Kneading by hand will take 15-20 minutes.

Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover, and allow to rise for 45 minutes. At this point you can refrigerate it up to 36 hours or use immediately.

Toppings
1 chicken breast
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups of your favorite BBQ sauce (can be more or less depending on your sauce preference on pizza)
2 tbs olive oil
1 red onion, sliced
1 tbs honey
1 jalapeno, sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
8 oz fresh mozzarella ball, sliced into 1/4" rounds (shredded mozzarella is fine as well)
4 oz sour cream

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Sprinkle salt and pepper over the chicken breast and place in a baking pan and cover with a 1/2 cup of the BBQ sauce. Bake for 25-30 minutes until cooked through. Cut chicken into bite sized cubes.

Heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Once hot add the onion and cook 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the edges begin to brown. Add a tablespoon of honey, pinch of salt, and cook until the onion caramelizes, another 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat.

To assemble the pizza:
Turn oven up to 450 degrees.

Prepare either a cookie sheet with nonstick spray or an 18" nonstick pizza pan with cornmeal sprinkled on the bottom.

Stretch or roll out your dough until it is a little over the dimensions of your pan. I do a combination of rolling and stretching. I roll out the dough some first into the general shape I want, stretch with my hands, and then roll it out some more. Once dough reaches the dimensions you want, place on your prepared pan, and roll over the edges to make a crust.

Bake the crust for 6 minutes in the oven. After the crust has partially baked, you will add your toppings. Using a large serving spoon or spatula spread the sauce over the crust. Add the sliced mozzarella, red onion, garlic, jalapeno, and cubed chicken over the top.

Bake for another 6-10 minutes, until the crust turns golden brown and cheese begins to bubble. Pull out of the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.

Using a spoon drizzle the sour cream over the top and enjoy!