Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Over Memorial Day weekend this year my husband and I met my sister and brother in law and mother and father in law at Cape Cod to celebrate my in laws 35th Wedding Anniversary. We stayed at a lovely cottage in Brewster, Mass and dined on the local fare of lobsters and clams and buffalo chicken pizza. Buffalo chicken pizza? Yes, that's right! We got pizza one night from a local pizzeria and the buffalo chicken was out of this world. Any "alternative" pizzas always catch my attention because I'm not much of a traditional tomato sauce/pepperoni/sausage kind of girl. I'm the girl that likes veggie pizzas or white pizzas or chicken pizzas. After one bite of this pizza I declared, "I'm going to try to make this pizza myself!" That's one of the best things I've found through all of my cooking adventures - once I try something I really like, I know I can now make my own version at home. 

This Buffalo Chicken pizza from Sandra Lee was so yummy! With grilled chicken strips marinated in buffalo sauce, cooled off by blue cheese and celery, it isn't exactly like the Cape Cod creation, but I loved the crunch and coolness that the celery added. Celery on a pizza - yes it sounds crazy, but is actually terrific - even my hubby who was a bit skeptical agrees. I made homemade pizza dough for this pizza and will post that recipe next. 

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

From Sandra Lee

Ingredients

1 pound chicken tenders, cut into small strips

1 cup buffalo wing sauce plus 2 tablespoons

Pizza dough (Sandra recommends a 13.8 ounce can of refrigerated dough. I made my own)

1 cup blue cheese dressing (This is where I made a mistake and bough blue cheese crumbles instead. Still turned out great!)

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 small red onion, sliced

1 cup celery (2 stalks), diced

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly spray baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside. Carefully unroll dough and place on prepared baking sheet. Press out dough with clean hands to form a 13 X 9 inch rectangle. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 7 minutes or until crust begins to brown. Meanwhile place chicken strips in a large bowl with 1 cup of the buffalo sauce. Toss to coat the chicken. Grill the chicken strips for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. 

Remove crust from oven and top with blue cheese dressing leaving a 1 inch border. (Since I bought the crumbles instead of the dressing I just sprinkled the dough with the crumbles and drizzled a little olive oil and buffalo sauce over the cheese as the base). Next top with the chicken strips, red onion, and celery. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of buffalo sauce.

Cover with mozzarella cheese. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown and cheese has melted. 

**I made my pizza indoors, but you can also make it on the grill. If you want the directions for the grilled version, click on the link (Sandra's name) above.

Cape Cod Sunset