Savory

Chicken Enchilada Pizza

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I am torn between my feelings for the rapper (entertainer? I dunno…) Pitbull. This is serious situation, here.

On one hand, I jam (JAM) to his music; the man knows his way around a beat and his hooks always make me shimmy.  Who else can remix a song from the movie Beetlejuice that can simultaneously make you shake that booty, want to start a conga line, AND drool over a young Alec Baldwin?

WHAT???!!!

Props, homie!

chicken enchilada pizza

But his lyrics? UGH! Simplistic!  Something you fish out of your middle school son’s notebook. Not even. I’m expecting a “roses are red, violet’s are blue” rhyme when his next album drops. Yea… I said it! Lack of lyrical depth aside, and my own biting criticism, I can’t deny the man is like Midas with a beat. He just might be some sort of genius.

Again… Props, homeslice…

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Now… One the other hand, when I see him on TV I have this uncontrollable urge to slap him upside his bald head. I dunno… I can’t help how I feel. Something about the way he curls his upper lip, ghetto Elvis style, just rubs me the wrong way. I can’t explain it. Who does that?! And so I don’t watch him on TV.

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I’d never act upon my urges, though. I mean, the dude is sure to have body guards, and I doubt my 160-something pound frame can support the tackle of a 300 lb body guard without some significant brain damage. So there’s that…

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OK… Um… Yea… Let’s jam to this song, start that conga line, and move onto some pizza!

You liked that, didn’t you? See what I mean? You started a conga line, didn’t you?

OK… I think I may be a genius. No really, I think I might be a genius. Or an idiot savant. Either way, I came up with something goooooooooooood.

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I combined two of my favorite foods: Pizza and chicken enchiladas.

Genius, right?

I know…

Flow with me…

This pizza is a bit more labor intensive than your usual Marguerita;  however, everything comes together quickly. The chicken gets cooked in a nice spicy sauce, then shredded. The sauce gets reduced; the reduction intensifying the spice slightly, providing a bit of punch. Oh, and then there’s the cheese! 3 kinds of cheese because, what’s pizza without cheese? You top it with a little cilantro, some diced tomatoes, and into the oven it goes.

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Semi pro tip: I like to pre-bake my pizza dough for about 10 minutes; this way the cheese doesn’t become a melty burnt mess. I don’t like burnt cheese.

So yea… I’m a total genius, because… *singing – This pizza is slaaaaammiiiiiinnnnn’!

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And yes, I used my crackly singing voice.

Now…

Make, make, make, Señora!

Or Señor…

Savory Chicken Enchilada Pizza -- www.mind-over-batter.com

[purerecipe]

 

Chicken Enchilada Pizza

Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time54 mins
Total Time1 hr 14 mins
Servings: 8

Ingredients

  • 1 medium Onion chopped fine
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon cumin
  • 1 Tablespoon sugar
  • 1 medium tomato seeded and chopped
  • 2, 8 oz cans of tomato sauce
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons of sofrito
  • Adobo or salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 lb. Boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1/3 Cup minced fresh cilantro

For the Pizza

  • 1/2 Batch of your favorite pizza dough
  • Shredded chicken
  • 1 cup of mozzarella cheese
  • 1 cup shredded sharp white cheddar cheese
  • 1 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese
  • 1 medium tomato seeded and diced in small cubes
  • Reduced enchilada sauce
  • 2-3 tablespoons cilantro optional

Instructions

For the chicken

  • In a large sauté pan or skillet, cook onions over medium heat stirring often until softened and translucent, about 8-10 minutes. Stir in garlic, cumin, chili powder and sugar until the spices are fragrant, about 20 seconds.
  • Add the chopped tomato, tomato sauce, water, sofrito and adobo (or salt and pepper) to taste. Reduce the heat to medium/low and bring the sauce to a simmer for about 2 minutes.
  • Reduce the heat to low and add the chicken to the sauce. Cover the chicken and cook until the chicken is completely cooked, about 20-22 minutes. Remove chicken from the saucepan, and transfer to a plate. Set aside to cool slightly.
  • Strain the sauce from the pan through a mesh strainer into a medium bowl, pressing down on the onions and tomatoes to extract as much liquid as possible. Transfer the solids to a large bowl and set aside. Add additional adobo (or salt and pepper) to the sauce if needed. Add the sauce to a saucepan and cook, reducing by about half over medium/high heat, about 5-7 minutes. If needed, lightly salt and set aside to cool.
  • Shred the chicken into bite size pieces and add to the bowl with the reserved solids. Add in 2 tablespoons of the reduced enchilada sauce and the cilantro. Stir to combine. Set aside remaining reduced enchilada sauce for the pizza.

To assemble the pizza

  • Preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Brush a rectangular cookie sheet with olive oil, and then dust with a coating of semolina flour or whole wheat flour. This will prevent the dough from shrinking on itself (pro tip).
  • Place pizza dough in the center of the cookie sheet and roll or lightly pull/stretch the dough to cover the entire cookie sheet. If the dough gets tough to stretch or roll, allow it to rest for a few minutes and continue rolling until you are able to cover the cookie sheet.
  • Once the pizza dough is rolled, lightly brush outer edges with olive oil. I like to also lightly sprinkle the edge of my dough with a little salt (or garlic salt), but you can leave as is.
  • Place the pizza dough in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes until the pizza dough is a very, very light golden color. The dough should have lost its shine, but should not be dark. At all!
  • Remove pizza dough from the oven (be careful, it’s hot!) and add the shredded chicken mixture. Add the shredded cheeses and diced tomatoes. Dot the pizza dough with remaining reduced enchilada sauce. Top with additional cilantro, if desired.
  • Place pizza dough with toppings back in the oven and bake until the cheese is bubbling and the crust is lightly browned, about 12-15 minutes.
  • Remove from the oven. Slice and serve.
  • Enchilada recipe adapted from: Annie's Eats

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