Week 49: Chicken Alfredo Pizza

I have a love-hate relationship with the Neelys. Their show is on nightly at a time when I'm around the house and the television. They make many recipes that appeal to me, but their lovey-dovey attitude makes me a little nuts.

Nevertheless, I tried this one out.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Makes 8 servings

1 (3/4 lb) boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1 C heavy cream
1/4 C grated Parmesan
1 (16-oz) ball pizza dough
2 C baby spinach, well washed and dried
1 C grape tomatoes, red and yellow
1 C grated mozzarella
Olive oil, for brushing crust

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Adjust racks to the middle of the oven. Put pizza stone in the oven to preheat while you begin the sauce.

Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant. Add the flour and cook until light blonde in color. Whisk in the cream, reduce the heat to low, and let simmer until thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in Parmesan and season lightly with salt and pepper, to taste.

Flour your work surface and roll the pizza dough into a 13-inch diameter. Carefully remove the pizza stone from the oven and put the dough on top. Ladle the sauce to cover the bottom of the pizza. Evenly top with the baby spinach, grape tomatoes, grilled chicken and the mozzarella. Brush the edge of the crust with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Bake the pizza until crisp and golden, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately top with another handful of spinach. Slice and serve.



My Notes:
Due to my own poor planning, this was way more stressful than it needed to be. The pizza dough took two tried because it turned out way too watery the first time. Then, I accidentally bought half-and-half instead of heavy cream. Then, I realized I didn't buy any mozzarella.

All the stress made it tough for me to really enjoy the pizza, but Brad really liked it. Apparently, it is something we will try again. Maybe next time I will buy pre-made Alfredo sauce to save some of the stress.