Chicken Margherita Pizza

Necessity is the mother of invention, right? Well, it was necessary that I cooked a pizza on Saturday night. I didn’t have my tools with me, because we were at our lake house on Greers Ferry Lake. 

So I did what any red-blooded Arkansan would do – I went to Walmart. And of course, they fixed what ailed me. I found a mix for pizza dough for thin crust pizza, and I used some of the ingredients I was using for some chicken Parmesan, and I made a couple of really good pizzas. We aren’t that family who orders pizzas. The last time one was delivered to our home was in 2005. Not even kidding. We don’t go out and eat pizza. So this was something I needed for my mental and physical health. And it hit the spot. 

And this is how I came to use chicken thighs. I had grabbed two packages of frozen chicken from my freezer at home. I’ve used the online delivery service called Butcher Box for the last few months, and this past delivery included chicken thighs. My family isn’t a fan, and I wasn’t aware that was in the order, so when I grabbed what I thought were chicken breasts yet they were thighs, I improvised. I seared them in the hottest iron skillet I could manage (smoke alert), and I seasoned with fresh cut basil and garlic salt (next time I’m adding Italian seasoning). 

I knew I wanted to cook a Margherita pizza (it is reportedly named for a 19th century Queen Margherita in Italy.) Then I whipped up the pizza dough, baked it for five minutes, and then I topped it with all the things. The recipe is below. 

Chicken Margherita Pizza

Ingredients

  • Homemade pizza crust 
  • 3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 3 -4 large basil leaves, cut into strips
  • 1 Arkansas tomato
  • 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
  • 2 TB. Parmesan cheese
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. Sear the chicken thighs in hot grease and season with Italian seasoning, garlic salt and some basil leaves. 
  2. Make pizza crust according to directions. Typically bake it first in a hot oven at 450 degrees for five minutes. 
  3. Drizzle the olive oil over the crust.
  4. Add the finely chopped garlic evenly. 
  5. Add the chopped chicken.
  6. Spread the mozzarella cheese throughout the top.
  7. Place the thinly sliced Arkansas tomatoes across the entire pizza. 
  8. Lightly salt and pepper the tomatoes with the kosher salt. 
  9. Add the fresh basil leaves.
  10. Cook the pizza in the oven for about 9-10 minutes. 
  11. Add  Parmesan cheese and enjoy. 

Make a real margarita to go with it. Just because you can.

Adapted from www.jenaroundtheworld.com

READ MORE: Best Chicken Spaghetti recipe