Name: “Hot & Honey” Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: For the Chicken:; 1 tablespoon olive oil; 4 tablespoons butter, divided; 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts; 1 cup buffalo sauce; ½ cup honey; 3 tablespoons brown sugar; Salt and pepper; For the Pizza:; 1-lb ball pizza dough; Flour, for rolling out the dough; Cornmeal, for pizza peel; The remaining honeyed buffalo sauce; The shredded buffalo chicken; 2½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese; Fresh scallions, chopped; Fresh cilantro or parsley, chopped

“Hot & Honey” Buffalo Chicken Pizza

March 23, 2015 by Molly 9 Comments

Hi! How was your weekend? What did you do?

Aside from wallowing in there’s-still-snow-on-the-ground-and-it’s-spring sorrow, I dealt with a sick husband and obsessed over trying to contain his germs as to not infect myself and my 6-month-old baby. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds. Yes, my grown-ass husband turns into a helpless child when sick (don’t they all?), but he was a good patient this time around.

We watched many a March Madness game, ate homemade mac-and-cheese (a sick hubby request), and snuggled up as much as possible without spreading the sickness. It’s fun to spend a weekend at home doing NOTHING every now and then…especially since Kieran is at SUCH a fun age right now. All I want to do is sit and watch him. Man, no one tells you that the whole parenting thing just keeps getting better and better. As much as I want time to STOP RIGHT NOW, and as much as I miss his teeny tiny 8-lb newborn body, I am loving every new thing that this kid does. It’s like…my heart explodes and I am filled with so much pride and excitement…just because he grabs onto a toy and purposefully brings it to his mouth. Big stuff, people (Yeah, I’m one of those parents now. Imagine how I’ll be when he starts WALKING or TALKING. Goodness).

Anyway. One of the sick hubby requests was homemade pizza. I told him he had to pick between mac-and-cheese and pizza…because I’m mean (and busy with a baby!). He went with the mac-and-cheese. Can’t blame him. This pizza, however, was a close second.

Have you ever had “hot & honey” buffalo wings? They are sooOOOOoooo good. All the stuff I love about buffalo sauce but with the added sweetness and syrupy goodness of honey. OMGYUM. I love them.

I also love buffalo chicken everything. But we know this already. Putting it on pizza is not something ground breaking, and it may not even sound that exciting…but promise me you’ll try it with the “hot & honey” sauce!? Please. It is heavenly.

If you aren’t nursing a sick hubby back to health and taking care of an infant all while trying to keep up with personal hygiene and household chores, go ahead and make homemade dough. Go you. Ever since I had the baby, I have been taking full advantage of my grocery store’s pre-made dough. Totally worth it. Not apologizing for it, either. Do what works for you.

Top your choice of dough with loads of cheese, hot & honey sauce, and shredded chicken and pop it in the oven. Bake until crispy and gooey and then top with fresh herbs and scallions. DO NOT SKIP THIS PART. I swear, it makes the whole pizza. Do it, do it, do it! Slice and serve as soon as you can tolerate the heat of said sauce and cheese. I may have burnt my mouth on this…a couple times.

WORTH IT.

“Hot & Honey” Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Yield: 4 servings

For the Chicken:

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 tablespoons butter, divided

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup buffalo sauce

½ cup honey

3 tablespoons brown sugar

Salt and pepper

For the Pizza:

1-lb ball pizza dough

Flour, for rolling out the dough

Cornmeal, for pizza peel

The remaining honeyed buffalo sauce

The shredded buffalo chicken

2½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Fresh scallions, chopped

Fresh cilantro or parsley, chopped

For the Chicken:

Heat the oil and 1 tablespoons of the butter in a skillet. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. When the pan is hot, add the chicken and cook for 5 minutes per side, until golden and cooked through. Remove from heat and once cool enough to handle, shred or chop the chicken.

Meanwhile, whisk together the remaining butter, buffalo sauce, honey, and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook over low heat until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Toss the shredded chicken with half of the sauce. Reserve the remaining sauce for the pizza.

For the Pizza:

Preheat the oven to 475°F and place a pizza stone (if using) on the middle rack. Roll the dough out to desired thickness and transfer to a pizza peel lined with cornmeal. If not using a pizza stone, liberally oil a baking sheet and place the rolled out dough on the sheet.

Evenly spread the remaining honey-buffalo sauce over the dough and then evenly distribute the chicken over top. Top with the cheese.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the pizza dough is crispy and golden and the cheese is bubbly and browning in spots. Allow to cool slightly, garnish with fresh scallions and herbs, slice, and serve.

Fontina & Prosciutto Pizza with Lemony Arugula Salad

March 5, 2015 by Molly 4 Comments

Balance. It’s what we all strive for (or should strive for) with eating. In the dark depths of winter, this can be rather challenging. A cold green smoothie just hasn’t been cutting it these past couple months. Salad for dinner has been happening…well…it hasn’t been happening at all. Maybe for lunch. But not for dinner…after the sun has prematurely set and the bone-chilling cold sets in at full force.

All I want to do these days, as we work our way through freezing temperatures, icy streets, and another snowstorm, is curl up on the couch with a large serving of something warm, heavy, and nap inducing. Given that it’s March and we’re already in our fourth month of crazy cold temperatures, this sort of thing has been happening more often than I’d like to admit.

So, to make this luscious cheese and prosciutto pizza seem a little more BALANCED, I throw an arugula salad on top. And then top said salad with more cheese. Womp womp. Oh well, at least I tried!

This pizza is like one that you may see at your local Italian pizza joints. I find that most places in my area have some version of a white pizza with fresh arugula on top on their menus. It’s a go to for me, and it never disappoints.

My version starts with a ball of purchased pizza dough. Yes, STORE BOUGHT. Ever since I had the baby, making my own pizza dough hasn’t been high on the priority list. If you want to make your own, though, feel free (here’s my go-to at-home recipe). You earn extra points. Anyway, I roll the dough out super thin and top it with some of my most favorite melty cheeses: fontina and mozzarella. Then, for added punch, I sprinkle on some sharp pecorino romano cheese and thinly sliced red onion. It gets baked until it is toasty and melty and glorious.

Once it comes out of the oven, I layer on the sexiest ham on earth (yes, I just called ham “sexy”): prosciutto. Thin, buttery ribbons of yummy. That’s what I think of when I see/eat prosciutto. It adds the perfect saltiness and luxury to any ol’ pizza.

THEN, I top the whole thing with baby arugula simply dressed with olive oil, fresh lemon juice, and a pinch of sugar for balance (there I go, using that word again). The final touch is a few (read: many) shavings of Parmesan cheese over the top. And voila! You’ve got a killer pizza-and-salad meal all in one.

Whether you’re looking for more balance or just a damn good meal, this pizza is for you.

Fontina & Prosciutto Pizza with Lemony Arugula Salad

Yield: 4-6 servings

1 (1-lb) ball of pizza dough

½ cup shredded Pecorino cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

2 cups shredded Fontina cheese

½ of a red onion, sliced very thin

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

Extra-virgin olive oil

Pinch of sugar

6 cups baby arugula

6 slices of Prosciutto

Shaved parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 475°F and place a pizza stone (if using) on the middle rack. Roll the dough out to desired thickness and brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Transfer to a pizza peel lined with cornmeal. If not using a pizza stone, liberally oil a baking sheet and place the rolled out dough on the sheet.

Mix the cheeses and the lemon zest together in a bowl. Layer the cheeses and red onion slices all over the top of the pizza. Transfer the dough to the pizza stone and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the bottom is crispy and golden and the cheeses have melted.

While the pizza is baking, toss the arugula with the lemon juice, olive oil, pinch of sugar, and salt and pepper. Remove the pizza from the oven and immediately top with the sliced prosciutto and the dressed arugula. Top with parmesan shavings, slice, and serve immediately.

Grilled White Pizza with Ricotta, Corn, & Broccoli

August 20, 2014 by Molly Leave a Comment

This has been such a crazy/fun/stressful/packed week so far…and it’s only Wednesday.

Our kitchen/house renovations are scheduled to wrap up during the next couple days (with a few lingering small projects taking place in the coming weeks), my husband and I have been attending childbirth/delivery classes in the evenings (that’s a whole discussion for another time, haha), AND I have two baby showers being thrown in my honor this week. One of which is at my home on Sunday afternoon (hosted by my mom and mother in law)…just a couple days after construction wraps. Needless to say, we’ve been running around like crazy all week, and Sunday evening can’t come soon enough!

Today, my office coworkers threw me the first of the baby showers complete with an impressive spread of food and generous, thoughtful gifts for our baby boy. So sweet. It makes me take pause and remember how kind people can be. It also makes me take pause about the fact that the baby is coming in a month and a half. OMG. Fastest pregnancy ever. I guess that could be a good thing? We’ve just been so DISTRACTED by everything else going on with our house/jobs/etc that it hasn’t fully set in that we’re going to be parents in the very near future. I know I’ve talked about this before, but it really is kind of a mind trip.

During busy/stressful/exciting times like this, it’s best to have easy meals that come together quickly. Enter grilled pizza. It had been on my list to try for months and months, and I finally made it a priority last week.

This grilled pizza is topped with grilled corn, broccoli, and pillowy dollops of ricotta cheese. Plus two other kinds of cheese. Necessary. Not only does the pizza cook quickly on the grill, but it doesn’t require you to crank up your oven as high as it goes in the middle of summer. It still TASTES like fantastic oven pizza, but with a chewy, smoky, charred thing going on (which is absolutely awesome). I, like most (all?) people, am not big on burnt bread…but give me charred bread/dough/crust from the grill, and I’m a happy gal.

My husband and I hovered over this pizza as it cooked, and as soon as I was done snapping the pictures, we DEVOURED it. We had ourselves a good, home cooked meal enjoyed together amidst all the craziness. Easy (but delicious!) meals like this one remind me to take a step back sometimes and just enjoy the moment. It’s hard to do when things are so hectic, but I always feel so much better when I do.

Feeling thankful. Funny how food can have that effect, huh?

Grilled White Pizza with Ricotta, Corn, & Broccoli (makes 4 servings)

2 ears of corn, husks removed

Olive oil

Pizza dough (store bought or homemade)

2 garlic cloves, finely minced

2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

1 cup broccoli florets, chopped

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

½ cup whole milk ricotta cheese

¼ cup grated pecorino cheese

Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat the grill to medium-high and liberally oil the ears of corn. Season with salt and pepper and place on the hot grill. Cook, turning frequently, until the corn is tender and charred in spots. Remove from grill, allow to cool slightly, and then cut the kernels from the cobs.

2. Increase the grill temperature to high. Roll out the dough to desired shape and thickness (the thinner the better) and brush one side liberally with olive oil. Carefully transfer the dough to the hot grill, placing it directly on the grill grate (I kind of draped it over my hands and spread it out on the grill that way. I’m sure you could use a pizza peel or baking sheet to do the same thing, though). Close the lid to the grill and cook on the first side for 2-3 minutes, or until golden and charred. Brush the top side with olive oil and flip over.

3. Immediately brush the grilled side with a little more oil and then evenly distribute the minced garlic and chopped thyme over top. Working quickly, layer the mozzarella, broccoli, and grilled corn evenly over the crust. Dollop the ricotta cheese randomly over the top of the pizza. Season with salt and pepper and then top with the grated pecorino cheese.

4. Close the lid of the grill and cook for about 5-7 minutes, rotating the pizza once about halfway through (all grills are different so I would check on it every couple minutes). The pizza is done when the cheese is melted and the pizza dough is crispy/charred on the bottom and cooked through. Remove from heat, cool slightly, and then slice and serve.

Cooking Note: This pizza comes together VERY quickly, so I found that it was best to have all my toppings ready to go BEFORE putting the dough on the grill. The last thing you want is to ruin that delicious crust because you’re running around trying to cut corn off the cob and shred some cheese. Get everything ready before getting started!

Grilled Veggie & Whipped Ricotta Naan Pizza

August 1, 2014 by Molly 10 Comments

Today, I have another one of those “I’m-almost-embarrassed-to-share-this-because-it’s-too-damn-easy-to-be-considered-a-recipe” recipe.

But I think you’ll still appreciate it! Because it’s delicious! And who doesn’t love a simple, quick meal?

You may have noticed the grilling trend on here lately. I’ve recently shared grilled salad, grilled cheese (not the sandwich), and grilled crostini. I also made an awesome grilled pork tenderloin (using my favorite marinade) this week and have been loading up on the grilled summer veggies. Today’s recipe isn’t the last grilled recipe you’ll be seeing from me either. In fact, I have a KILLER grilled chicken recipe coming up soon (it features one of the best parts of summer: PEACHES) and even a grilled COOKIE. Yup. Things have been getting crazy around these parts.

Grilling has been my only means of cooking lately, and while I love doing so, I have to say I really miss my oven. Even on 90-degree days. It’s a classic “you don’t know what you have until it’s gone” scenario. We normally have homemade pizza about once a week. That has changed quite a bit since the renovation started for obvious reasons. I have grilled pizza on my list of things to try soon, but until then, this super-easy-shouldn’t-be-called-a-recipe method is working juuuust fine.

I basically take some naan bread (which is amazing, by the way) and slather on my newest obsession: whipped ricotta (more on that here). Then, I top that with grilled, smoky veggies and some more cheese. I put it on the hot grill and let everything melt and meld together. Finally, it gets topped off with some fresh basil and a drizzle of balsamic glaze. Easy peasy. It’s the fastest homemade pizza ever.

Like most of my recipes, this one is highly customizable. Throw on whatever toppings you like and go to town. There are no rules when it comes to pizza.

Even the technically-shouldn’t-be-called-a-recipe pizza.

Grilled Veggie & Whipped Ricotta Naan Pizza (makes 2-4 servings, depending on how hungry you are)

2 small zucchini, sliced

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 red onion, sliced

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

1 cup whipped ricotta

2 naan flatbreads

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Balsamic glaze

Fresh basil, torn or chopped

Preheat the grill to medium-high and oil the grates. Toss the veggies with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill the veggies for about 3 minutes per side, or until tender and slightly charred in spots (cooking time will depend on your grill). Remove and allow to cool slightly. Spray a large piece of tin foil with nonstick cooking spray.

Spread the whipped ricotta on the flatbreads and the layer on the grilled veggies. Top with the shredded mozzarella and then place the flatbreads on the prepped tin foil. Place the tin foil on the grill, reduce heat to medium, close the lid, and allow the pizza to cook for 5-7 minutes, or until crisped slightly on the bottom and gooey on top (again, actual cooking time will depend on your grill).

Remove from grill, drizzle with balsamic glaze and top with basil. Slice and serve immediately.

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