Chicken Pesto Pizzas

Making pizzas at home isn't as easy as you'd think. Getting the dough right, buying ALL the toppings to please everyone, finding a great sauce.... there are a lot of places to go wrong.  I prefer to order my pizza and have it delivered with ONE exception.  I have this simple-to-put-together and super-yummy pizza that my whole family loves!

This isn't even a recipe - its more like a list of instructions because you're not really cooking anything.... there is a lot of flexibility here, but don't mistake it for sloppiness.  Just know that you can use a variety of ingredients and come up with a similar result. 

Chicken Pesto Pizzas

6-8 oz. of basil pesto 
10 oz. low-fat ricotta

1 lb. cooked chicken 

8 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded

6-8 pitas, flat bread or 2 large pieces of focaccia bread

1 roasted sweet red pepper, thinly sliced

3 Tbsp. melted butter (optional)

3 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 325. 

Place bread of choice on a cookie sheet lined with foil, parchment, or Silpat. Mix pesto and ricotta together. Smear each piece lightly with pesto/ricotta mixture. Place chicken, roasted red peppers on top, then sprinkle with mozzarella. You can also melt a little butter, brush it onto the edges of the bread and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until cheese is melted and ingredients are warmed through. 

Here is my list of caveats:

1. DON'T buy a pre-made pizza crust like Boboli. It's a rip-off.  Pocket pita bread makes a great base, or you can buy frozen pizza dough, or make your own bread which I did.  I made this focaccia bread ahead of time, cut it into smaller pieces so I could freeze it. I took it out of the freezer the morning of the day I was going to make the pizzas, and then used it as my base. If you're struggling to make good gluten-free pizza, find your favorite gluten-free flat bread and use that! 
2. Pesto is easy to make, but most of the time I buy the stuff in the refrigerator section, or in the prepared food section of my grocery store. Pesto in a jar on the shelves near the pasta sauce is gross. Don't buy it. 
3. I cooked 1 lb. of chicken tenders on a grill pan on my stove, which can be done well in advance. You can also just buy 1 rotisserie chicken and shred the meat. Or you vegetarians can leave it off completely! 
4. You can roast your own red peppers (which I do on the grill in the summer), but in the winter, I just used the jarred variety. You'll only need a little for this recipe, so if you buy a big jar you can use the rest to make some Roasted Red Pepper and Walnut Spread. 

Focaccia bread, right out of the oven.

Cut into smaller pieces, with pesto smeared on top.

All melted and ready to eat!