Chicken Bacon Pizza

We were ripped off on Saturday in regards to weather.  It was pretty much a wash out. A little windy and threatening to rain when Shane and I went for a run. We cut it short to a 5 + mile trek.  

Sunday wasn’t bad at all. It did sprinkle here and there but the sun tried to shine.  The three of us went on a long walk.  Shane and I were out a bit earlier than Ted and so we ran 1 1/2 miles around MVCC track while we waited for “Pokey”.  Total was  5.5 miles and that’s not too bad for a nice Sunday walk around the Golf course. 

After chores were said and done (more saying than doing 😛 ), inside and out, I spent some quality time working on my favorite kitchen creations.  My parents requested some Rustic Raisin Bread (no fennel just nuts and raisins) so I set out to make that for them.  There was the CNYEats Chicken Wing Dip to offer for the afternoon tasty treat. 

Then… I had an idea.  Here it is with some background history:

Last Friday, I came home from work.  Ted was looking like the cat who just ate the canary  😈 . 

Aw! Guilty as charged

 I said “what have you done?”.  He said, “I just had the greatest pizza“.  “Where’s my piece?” I said.   There wasn’t any. It was a chicken and bacon pizza and I wouldn’t have eaten it any way.  But Ted said it was “soooo good“.  That meant I had a challenge.  It must be re-created at home.

Chicken Bacon Pizza

Homemade pizza dough using a bread maker:

For 1 thick 12″ crust

• 3/4 cup warm water
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1 TBS sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 TBS dry milk
• 2 1/4 cup Bread flour
• 1 tsp Active Dry Yeast

Mix on “Dough” setting in bread maker.  When done, preheat oven to 375 F.  Place the dough on a lightly floured 12″ pizza pan,

form a 12″ shell with the edges slightly rounded and thicker than the middle. Rub some olive oil all over the crust and bake for 10 minutes.

Pizza Filling

• 1 cup Ranch Dressing: separated into 1/2 cups
• 1 cup diced chicken pieces * I cooked the chicken and used 1/2 of it from the Taste of Utica recipe. Link HERE.
• 12 – 15 slices of cooked bacon
• 1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425 F. Add 1/2 cup of the Ranch dressing to the pizza shell which you pre baked for 10 minutes. 

Add the chicken. Crumble the bacon and add on top of the chicken. 

 Drizzle with the other 1/2 cup of dressing.  Add the Monterey cheese and then the Parmesan cheese. 

Bake for 20 minutes or until crust is golden around the edges.

If you eat chicken, you’ll love this pizza.  If you don’t eat meat, try a Vegetarian chicken substitute such as Quorn.  Maybe beans would work really well on this pizza?  For the bacon, Morning Star Farms offers a soy bacon substitute.  Either way, according to my trusty chicken fans, this pizza is very flavorful, the chicken is tender, the bacon adds a smokey finish, it’s filling and perfect for a change from traditional red-sauce pizza.

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Monday Morning Workout:

It was chest day.  I hit the sack early last night…well, it’s usually early but about half an hour EARLIER than normal. “Merlin” wasn’t on and Ted and Teddy were watching a movie I had seen before. Can’t stand watching repeats!  So I went to bed. Before I knew it, the alarm was going off. Guess I needed the extra  zzzzz’s.  

• 3.25 mile run on the Tread mill
• 40 minutes of chest and triceps 15 – 20 reps each of the 4 sets for chest and 12 -1 5 reps of the 4 sets for tri’s.
• Shane and I went jogging for 3.6 miles. It was cool but pleasant in the morning darkness.

Hope you had a great Monday.  Tomorrow is Sweet and Simple Bakes day. “Slammin’ Jammin’ Doughnut Muffins”. 

 By the way, what’ s your favorite pizza?