BBQ Chicken Pizza

I was a bit tired of our normal pizza topping rotations and had some leftover Beale Street BBQ sauce in the fridge, so I decided to make a BBQ Chicken Pizza. For those of you hauling your grills out of basements and garages after the long winter, and seeking a first grill recipe of-the-year, give this a try:

Marinate 1/2lb of boneless, skinless chicken breast in BBQ Sauce overnight (I put the chicken in a gallon sized Ziploc bag, dump in enough BBQ Sauce to cover the chicken, seal the bag and toss it in the fridge).

Dough (20 min to prep; 1 hour to rise):

1 packet of Active Dry Yeast (if you don't have Live Yeast)
1 1/2 cup of Warm Water
3 1/2 cups of flour
1 tsp salt
Olive Oil

Combine the yeast and water in a Cuisinart and let it stand until yeast is dissolved and foamy (for Dry Yeast Only), about 10 minutes. Add the salt. Add flour, one cup at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the Cuisinart bowl when mixing. Remove dough from the bowl and hand-knead for a minute more on a lightly floured surface. It should be smooth and elastic (if it is tough, start over as it will not rise). Shape dough into a ball. Fill a large bowl with hot water and let stand for 5 minutes to warm bowl. Pour out water, dry bowl completely and place the dough in the warm bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, turn to coat, cover with a towel and let rest for an hour, until doubled in bulk.

While dough is rising:

Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees

Insert a pizza stone, covered with white cornmeal, into the pre-heating oven

Soak a husked cob of corn in water for 20 minutes to soften, then wrap corn in tin foil, sealing both ends

Pre-heat grill to High

Cut a Yellow Onion into 8 wedges and place on grill rack, turning periodically until browned

Place a whole Green Pepper on grill rack, turning periodically until blistering

Place chicken breast on grill rack, turning periodically until cooked throughout

Place corn (in foil) on grill rack, turning every 5 minutes until all sides are cooked (approx. 20 min)

Finely dice a garlic clove

Coarsely chop grilled onion and pepper

Shred chicken breasts (I use two forks - one to hold the chicken steady, the other I flip over and scrape away at the chicken, loosening several "threads" at a time until the breast is completely shredded)

Unwrap foil and remove corn from cob with a knife

Cover a pizza paddle with white cornmeal (cover to the corners or the dough will stick).

After dough has risen:

Spread the pizza dough over the cornmeal, stretching it with your hands until it is the desired shape and thickness.

Spread BBQ Sauce over the dough

Top with garlic, corn kernels, pepper and onion

Drizzle a bit more BBQ Sauce over vegetables

Spread shredded Monterey Jack cheese over the vegetables

Top with cubes of fresh mozzarella

Slide the pizza off the paddle onto the heated pizza stone. Reduce oven temperature to 475 degrees and cook for 12-15 minutes

Slide pizza back onto the paddle, cut into pieces and enjoy

Bon Appetit!