Loaded BBQ Chicken Pizza
Pecorino romano goes under the mozzarella, where it cuts across the sweetness of the barbecue sauce instead of joining it. Green pepper and paper-thin raw red onion stay crunchy, and the cilantro, scallion and last drizzle of sauce all go on after the pizza leaves the oven.
Ingredients
For the Pizza Dough
- 1 packet active dry yeast 2 1/4 teaspoons
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 cup warm water 105F to 110F, warm on the wrist and not hot
- 3 cups bread flour about 13 ounces, plus more for dusting
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt or 1 1/4 teaspoons fine sea salt
For the Topping
- 2 tablespoons coarse cornmeal for the peel or the pan
- 1 tablespoon olive oil for brushing the rim
- 1/2 cup barbecue sauce thick and vinegar-forward, plus 2 tablespoons to finish
- 1 3/4 cups shredded mozzarella low-moisture whole milk, grated yourself
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken about 10 ounces
- 1 small green bell pepper thinly sliced
- 3 ounces red onion about half a small one, sliced paper thin
- 1/2 cup grated pecorino romano
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt divided between the sauce and the toppings
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
- 1/4 cup cilantro leaves roughly chopped, added after baking
- 1 scallion white and light green parts, thinly sliced
Equipment
- Pizza Stone
- Baking sheet
- Stand Mixer (optional)
Instructions
Make the Dough
- Stir the yeast and sugar into the warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer and leave it 5 to 10 minutes, until it looks foamy. If nothing happens the yeast is dead or the water was too hot.
- Add the olive oil and the salt with the dough hook on low, then add the flour a little at a time. Mix on medium a few minutes, stopping to scrape the hook, until the dough gathers into a ball that clears the sides of the bowl and is still slightly tacky. Add flour or water in small amounts if it is sticky or crumbly.
- Turn it out onto a floured surface, fold it over on itself a few times and shape it into a ball. Put it in a lightly oiled bowl, turn it to coat, cover with a damp towel and leave it somewhere warm for about 1 hour to 1 1/4 hours, until doubled.
Heat the Oven and Shape
- Preheat a baking stone, a steel or a heavy dark pizza pan on the lower third of the oven at 500F for at least 45 minutes. Fifteen minutes gives you a surface that is hot on top and cold inside, and it will steal heat from the base of the pizza rather than giving it.
- Roll or press the risen dough into a 14-inch round on a peel dusted with the cornmeal, or directly onto a sheet of parchment if you have no peel. Have every topping sliced and within reach before the dough is shaped, because it will not wait.
Top the Pizza
- Brush the outer inch of the dough with the tablespoon of olive oil, then spread the 1/2 cup of barbecue sauce to within an inch of the edge and season it lightly with half the salt. Scatter the pecorino first, then the mozzarella, then the chicken, green pepper and red onion, and finish with the rest of the salt and the black pepper. Pecorino underneath the mozzarella melts into the sauce instead of browning hard on the surface.
Bake and Finish
- Bake 10 to 14 minutes. It is done when the rim is blistered with a few dark spots, the mozzarella is fully melted and just spotting brown, and the base lifts to show a dry, firm, freckled underside. Give it two more minutes if it is pale.
- Scatter the cilantro and scallion over the hot pizza, drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons of barbecue sauce and let it rest 5 minutes before cutting into 8 slices. Resting lets the cheese set enough to hold the toppings on the slice.
Notes
Oven temperature is the thing that matters most. Preheat a stone, a steel or a heavy dark pan for a full 45 minutes at 500F. The original called for 450F and 15 to 20 minutes, which dries the toppings out before the base browns.
Salt: kosher brands differ by almost a factor of two by volume. Two teaspoons of Diamond Crystal is about 2 percent of the flour weight, which is right. Use 1 1/4 teaspoons if you have fine sea salt.
Doneness is read from underneath: the base should be dry, firm and freckled brown. The rim should be blistered and the green pepper should still have an edge.
Three cups of flour makes about 1 1/2 pounds of dough, so one thick-rimmed 14-inch round or two thinner 12-inch ones.
Make-ahead: the dough holds 2 days refrigerated, or freezes shaped for a month. Do not assemble ahead; sauce on raw dough soaks in.
Storage: 3 days refrigerated. Reheat in a dry covered skillet, not a microwave.
Nutrition values are an estimate.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 401kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 48mg | Sodium: 742mg | Potassium: 246mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 420IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 228mg | Iron: 3mg