Barbecue Chicken Pizza
Barbecue chicken pizza was something I came across pretty regularly when I lived in California, and I’ve been happily watching its deserved popularity spread across the rest of the country. Drumsticks are coated in a homemade chipotle barbecue sauce and roasted in the oven. The succulent meat is removed from the bones and used as a pizza topping, with blue cheese, bell pepper, pineapple, red onion, and even more barbecue sauce. Try your hand at making the incredible homemade pizza crust, but you can also use store-bought pizza dough if you don’t have the time to make it from scratch. This dough recipe takes about 16 hours (the vast majority of it just letting the dough rest) and involves making a pre-ferment, which is a thin base for the dough that allows the flavor of the wheat in the flour to develop along with the yeast. The key to making a good pizza at home, however, is to use a baking stone, so make sure to invest in one if you’re planning on making homemade pizza a regular activity. • makes 2 pizzas, serving 4
Pizza Dough
- 4 cups plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2½ cups plus 4 tablespoons water
- ⅛ teaspoon plus a pinch active dry yeast
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher sea salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
Barbecue Chicken Topping
- ⅔ cup ketchup
- ⅓ cup honey
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ to 1½ teaspoons chipotle chili powder
- ½ teaspoon mustard powder
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- Pinch kosher salt
- 1½ pounds chicken drumsticks (about 5)
- Semolina flour, for pizza peel
- 1½ ounces Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 ounce blue cheese, crumbled
- 1 small orange bell pepper, sliced
- ¼ cup sliced pineapple
- ¼ cup diced red onion
- 4 tablespoons fresh cilantro
For the dough, in a large bowl, mix together ½ cup and 2 tablespoons of the flour with ½ cup and 2 tablespoons of the water and a pinch of the yeast. Cover and let rest out of direct sunlight for 12 to 14 hours.
Empty the pre-ferment mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Add the remaining 3½ cups and 1 tablespoon flour and remaining 2 cups and 2 tablespoons water and mix at low speed for 30 seconds. The dough should be very lumpy and not fully incorporated when you stop. Allow the dough to rest uncovered for 30 minutes.
Add the remaining ⅛ teaspoon yeast, the olive oil, salt, onion powder, and garlic powder and mix at low speed until incorporated. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Grab one side of the dough and pull up, folding it across the top of the dough. Turn the bowl clockwise by one-third and repeat. Repeat the turning and pulling once more. Cover the dough and let rest for 45 minutes. Repeat the turning and pulling every 45 minutes for 3 hours. Separate the dough into 2 equal portions. If not using the dough immediately, you can place each one in a resealable plastic bag and refrigerate for up to 3 days, or place each one in a freezer-safe container and freeze for up 6 months.
For the chicken topping, preheat the oven to 375°F.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the ketchup, honey, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, chipotle powder (to taste), mustard powder, cumin, and salt until smooth. Rub one-third of the barbecue sauce on the drumsticks and place on a baking sheet. Roast for 40 to 45 minutes, until cooked through. Let cool completely. Remove the meat from the bones and set aside.
To bake the pizza, place a baking stone in the center rack of the oven and preheat the oven to 550°F.
Prepare the pizza peel by generously coating it with semolina. Take one of the dough balls and stretch it into a circle. Allow it to hang from your fists as you quickly rotate the circle, allowing gravity to stretch it out. Once it reaches about 12 inches in diameter, place it on the pizza peel.
Spread half of the remaining barbecue sauce on the dough round, leaving a 1-inch border around the edge for the crust. Evenly distribute half of the Parmesan, blue cheese, bell pepper, pineapple, red onion, and chicken over the pizza.
Open the oven and place the pizza peel ½ inch above the baking stone. Pull back very quickly to release the pizza from the peel so that it slides onto the stone. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the pizza edges are golden and puffy and the center is cooked through. Repeat with the remaining ingredients to make a second pizza. Garnish each pizza with 2 tablespoons of fresh cilantro and serve immediately.
