PAPA JOHN’S: HAWAIIAN BBQ CHICKEN ORIGINAL CRUST PIZZA

SAVE: 180 CALORIES, 13 G FAT, 3 G SAT. FAT

As I did when creating the other sauce recipes in this book, I ordered my first Hawaiian pizza from Papa John’s and asked for “extra sauce on the side” (it’s my way of making sure I’m not tasting another component of the dish before I try to re-create the sauce). When I tried the pizza, I thought it was tasty, yet I really didn’t care for the sauce by itself . . . at all. How could this be? I elected to ignore the fact that I didn’t love the flavor and duplicated the sauce faithfully.

Later, during the testing phase, we bought another pizza. One bite and I remembered my initial reaction. My tester and I were convinced that the sauce on the pizza was much sweeter. Stumped, we decided to go ahead and make our version and see what happened. We did, and we were pleasantly surprised; ours was really good. Just like the Papa John’s original, our sauce tasted great blended with the other ingredients.

Perhaps, we figured, it had something to do with the sweetness of the pineapple? Or maybe once it got spread out, it was much less concentrated and thus tasted sweeter? Regardless, don’t be alarmed by the taste of the sauce on its own. It takes on a whole new life once nestled under the cheese in this masterpiece from Papa John’s.

1 recipe Papa John’s Pizza Dough

1 recipe Papa John’s BBQ Sauce

6 slices center-cut bacon, cut into 1" pieces

½ pound boneless, skinless chicken breast

½ teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

2 pinches of salt

Flour for work surface

5 ounces (1½ cups + 3 tablespoons) finely shredded low-fat mozzarellacheese, divided

½ cup drained pineapple tidbits packed in juice, divided

½ cup white onion strips (¼" thick of varying lengths), divided

TO prepare the pizza:

Prepare the dough. Set aside to rise.

Prepare the sauce. Set aside.

Preheat a grill or stove-top grill pan to high heat.

Place the bacon pieces in a small nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook, flipping occasionally, for about 3 to 4 minutes, or until barely cooked and not crisp. Transfer to a paper towel–lined plate to drain.

Place the chicken on a cutting board. Cover with a sheet of waxed paper. With the smooth side of a meat mallet, pound to an even 1⁄3" thickness. Rub both sides of the breast with oil and season with salt.

Place the chicken on the grill rack or grill pan. Grill for about 2 minutes per side, or until barely pink inside. Allow the chicken to sit for 5 minutes. Cut the breast in half lengthwise and then cut each half into ¼"-thick crosswise strips. Set aside.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 500°F.

When the dough has doubled, gently punch it down. Place it on a lightly floured surface. With a lightly floured rolling pin or hands, roll or pat into a 14" circle (if you’re new to making pizza, see “How to Form a Perfect Crust” for more advice on how to do this). Transfer to a 14" nonstick round deep-dish or flat pizza pan.

Bake for 5 minutes. Remove and set on a heat-proof surface. Spread evenly with the sauce, leaving a bare ½" border. Sprinkle one-quarter of the cheese evenly over the sauce. Top evenly with three-quarters of the chicken and three-quarters of the bacon. Next, top evenly with one-quarter of the pineapple and one-quarter of the onion. Top evenly with the remaining cheese, chicken, bacon, pineapple, and onion.

Bake for 8 to 12 minutes, or until the crust is golden. Allow the pizza to stand for 5 minutes on a rack. Cut into 8 slices.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS (2 SLICES EACH)

Each serving: 500 calories, 29 g protein, 74 g carbohydrates, 9 g fat, 3 g sat. fat, 4 g fiber

Original Papa John’s Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Original Crust Pizza (2 large slices): 680 calories, 32 g protein, 92 g carbohydrates, 22 g fat, 6 g sat. fat, 4 g fiber