KitchenExpeditions® Special-TeaMmmm Pizza!!

Deb's Recipes's Note:

Creamy garlic-alfredo sauce topped with spinach, grilled chicken, artichoke hearts, and sundried tomatoes, this scrumptious pizza was specially developed in honor of team KitchenExpeditions® and Zaar World Tour II. The recipe yields a 13" pizza or 8 generous slices and can be made vegetarian by simply omitting the grilled chicken. Enjoy!

• Total Time: 45 mins
• Prep Time: 27 mins
• Cook Time: 18 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

Pizza Crust

• 1/4 cup warm water (110 F)
• 1 teaspoon dry yeast (rounded)
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/8 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 7/8-2 cups flour
• cornmeal (for sprinkling on pizza stone)

Pizza Sauce

• 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup prepared alfredo sauce (use a thick alfredo sauce such as No-Cream Alfredo Sauce)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 dash salt (to taste)
• 1 dash white pepper (to taste)

Pizza Toppings

• 6 -8 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 3/4 cup thinly sliced grilled chicken (one boneless chicken breast half)
• 1 (7 1/2 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped sun-dried tomatoes
• 1/2 cup fresh-grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Combine warm water, yeast, and honey; let sit 5 minutes to dissolve and activate yeast.
2. Stir together yeast mixture, water, olive oil, salt, and 1 cup flour; gradually add remaining flour, stirring, until dough comes together; knead (a KitchenAid stand mixer works well) for 10 minutes until soft, smooth, and elastic.
3. Turn dough into an oiled bowl; cover and allow to rise at room temperature for about 45 minutes or until doubled.
4. Preheat oven to 450° (you may optionally preheat your pizza stone for a crispier crust) and sprinkle pizza stone lightly with cornmeal; set pizza stone aside.
5. Punch down dough; turn dough onto a lightly floured surface; press dough out thinly into a circular shape; lift and transfer dough onto prepared pizza stone; press dough outward until it covers the pizza stone; using your fingers form a ridge around the outer edge.
6. Parbake pizza crust for 3-4 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, combine ricotta and mozzarella cheeses, alfredo sauce, garlic, salt and pepper; stir to blend well.
8. Remove parbaked pizza crust from oven and pat down any overly-puffed-up spots using with the palm of your hand or a clean kitchen towel; spread sauce evenly over surface of pizza crust.
9. Top pizza first with spinach, then with chicken, then with artichokes and sundried tomatoes, and finally with an even sprinkling of parmesan cheese.
10. Return pizza to oven and bake and additional 15-18 minutes until crust is golden-brown and cheese is melted and just beginning to brown; remove pizza from oven and let stand a couple minutes before slicing ~ Enjoy!
11. NOTE: Please don't hesitate to use a Boboli or other prepared pizza crust if you're short on time!

Reviews

[ceruleanseven]

This pizza was phenomenal! 5 stars is not NEARLY enough. I made this for a girl's night in. The only change I made was to use a prepared pizza crust. Honestly, I don't think I could have found a tastier pizza in any restaurant. I can't wait to make it again!!!

[CabinKat]

This pizza recipe was top notch. I didn't use the spinach because the boyfriend doesn't do greens. I enjoyed the Alfredo sauce combined with the cheeses. It was different but worked well with the chicken and artichokes. We used sun-dried tomatoes in jar with a bit of liquid. Next time I'm going to mix a little of the liquid in with the Alfredo so it can be tasted throughout. Will be doing this again...thanks for posting!

[LUv 2 BaKE]

Oh Yum!! I can't believe I waited so long to make my own team's pizza! I made the vegetarian version omitting the chicken so therefore added a bit more artichokes. I used a low fat homemade alfredo sauce. I love the flavour mixture of the white sauce, garlic, sundried tomatoes and artichokes! Thanks so much for creating an outstanding pizza Debbie!