Smoked BBQ Chicken Pita Pizza

Ok so who doesn't like BBQ and Pizza? BBQ is an American tradition, while pizza has become the most popular food in America. I've been craving a BBQ pizza for a while now and decided I'd smoke up some chicken thighs and make a BBQ chicken pizza. Of course, I wanted to throw a twist on it... so I decided to pick up some pita bread instead of a traditional style crust.

Ok so here's what you'll need:

• Smoked/Grilled Chicken (Here's my smoked chicken thigh recipe)
• BBQ Sauce
• Red Onion (Rough Chop)
• Roasted Red Pepper (Rough Chop)
• Pickled Jalapeno (Fine Dice)
• Italian Cheese Blend (Mozzarella, Provolone, Parmesan and Fontina, plus Romano and aged Asiago)
• Scallions (Green Tops Only)

Ok, so this recipe is really simple... First you need to grill the pita bread. I use my panini press to grill flatbreads. We won't need to bust out the grill on this one, since most flatbreads already have that nice char from the very high temp ovens they are cooked in. Just toast them in a toaster oven or panini press with a little olive oil brushed on both sides.

 

 

Once the pita bread has firmed up, you are ready to spread on some of your favorite BBQ sauce. I like Sweet Baby Ray's thick and rich BBQ sauces for this kind of dish.

 

 

Next, throw down some smoked chicken right on top of the BBQ sauce. Who wouldn't want to take a bath in BBQ sauce?

 

Next, add some red onions. Red onions add a nice crunch factor.

 



Roasted red peppers follow the red onions. You can pick these up in the store next to the pickles and olives. I find they add a nice smokey sweet flavor.



 

 

Now for some spice. Add some minced pickled jalapenos to give this pizza a little kick.

 

Now I know you're thinking... why the Italian cheese blend? Why not smoked cheddar or mozzarella? With this pizza, you've already got the smokey chicken, the sweet smokey BBQ sauce, and the roasted red peppers. Cheeses like Parmesan, Fontina, Romano and aged Asiago give a salty nutty flavor that balances really well with all of the other sweet smokey flavors going on.

 

Now it's time to toast this pizza! I just toss it in the toaster oven to melt the cheese and warm up the toppings. Once the cheese is melted, pull it out of the oven and garnish with some chopped scallions and a pinch of Italian seasoning.