BBQ Chicken Pizza + Cola Braised Chicken Recipe
Servings 4 servings
Ingredients
For the cola braised chicken:
- 4 chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds), excess skin trimmed
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 (14.5 ounce )can fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 7.5 ounces (1 mini can) Coca-Cola
- 2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo, finely chopped
- 5 to 6 slices of lime (from 1 small lime)
For the bbq chicken pizza
- 1 ball pizza dough
- Kosher salt
- Olive oil
- 1/3 cup barbecue sauce
- 4.5 ounces shredded low moisture mozzarella
- 4.5 ounces shredded gouda
- 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 cup cola braised chicken
- 4 strips bacon, sliced and cooked until crispy
- Handful of cilantro leaves, for sprinkling
Instructions
- To make the cola braised chicken, start by seasoning chicken thighs on both sides with salt and pepper. Let sit at room while you prepare the sauce. Also, preheat an oven to 325°F.
- Over medium heat, warm olive oil in a medium saucepan that can also go in the oven. Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the edges start turning golden brown (about 2 minutes). Stir in the fire roasted tomatoes, cola, chipotle chiles and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Bring mixture to a boil, take off the heat, then add chicken in an even layer. The liquid won’t completely cover the chicken. Tuck lime slices into the sauce, then braise, uncovered, in the oven until the chicken is cooked through (35 to 40 minutes).
- Remove chicken from the sauce, then season sauce to taste with salt. Once cool enough to handle, remove skin and pull chicken off the bone into bite-sized pieces. Return chicken to the sauce and let sit for at least 15 minutes before using as a pizza topping (it gets tastier the longer it sits in the sauce). Transfer to the fridge if letting sit longer than 15 minutes. You’ll have enough chicken for 2 pizzas.
- To make the bbq chicken pizza, preheat an oven to 500°F, and set an oven rack in the lowest possible position. Lightly coat a pizza pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Stretch pizza dough into a round large enough to fit the pizza pan. Very lightly drizzle the dough with olive oil, using your hands to evenly spread the oil around. Sprinkle dough with a small pinch of kosher salt. Top pizza evenly with bbq sauce and grated cheese, then scatter sliced onion, chicken and bacon over top. Finish with a sprinkling of kosher salt.
- Transfer pizza to the oven on the lowest rack and cook until the crust is golden brown (bottom and crusand the cheese is nice and bubbly (9 – 11 minutes). Finish the pizza with a sprinkling of cilantro leaves.