Creamy Pesto Chicken Pizza

Whooooops! I may have forgotten to take a picture of the pizzas that we made for P’s birthday until almost everything was gone. This Creamy Pesto Chicken Pizza has a delicious thin crust and juicy sun dried tomatoes. We love a good twist on the typical pizza, like this recipe.

The crust is a really big deal to me. Bread and cheese is pretty hard to mess up, but pizza dough can definitely do just that. Have you ever had a not so great homemade pizza? We have and for years we stopped making it because take out really was better than the recipe we were using. And then I wised up and starting testing recipes until I found one that was perfection.

You’ll notice we have talked about pizza quite a bit, how to make a perfect pepperoni pizza (it involves a microwave, do you know the secret?), our favorite Italian style pizza loaded with caramelized peppers and onions and really flavorful sausage. Then there’s always our all time favorite four cheese margherita pizza. It’s amazing! But this pizza is totally worth your time as well. It’s got a creamy pesto sauce and those warm, rich sun dried tomatoes make it the perfect summer pizza. Plus, thin crust must make it a healthier pizza so you get an extra serving, right?

What Is Pesto?

Pesto traditionally consists of crushed garlic, European pine nuts, coarse salt, basil leaves, Parmigiano-Reggiano and pecorino sardo, all blended with olive oil.

How Long Will Homemade Pesto Stay Fresh?

You can keep homemade pesto for 1 week if stored properly.

Pesto should be kept in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

Can You Use Spaghetti Sauce for Pizza Sauce?

Spaghetti sauce and pizza sauce contain the same ingredients, so yes, they can be used interchangeably.

Creamy Pesto Chicken Pizza

Yield: 4-6 servings

Creamy Pesto Chicken Pizza

Total Time: 35 mins

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 25 mins

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

Thin Crust Pizza Dough

• 1 Teaspoon Dry active yeast
• 1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
• 1 1/4 Cups warm water
• 1 Cup Cake flour (not self-rising)
• 2 1/2 -3 Cups All-purpose flour
• 2 Teaspoons Salt
• olive oil

Assembly

• 1 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast, Cooked with salt and pepper and sliced thin or shredded
• 1/2 Cup Sun-Dried Tomatoes, sliced
• 2 Cloves Roasted Garlic, Minced (see note)
• 1 Cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• 1/2 Cup Shredded Provolone Cheese (If I can’t find any I just ask the deli to slice off a hunk instead of doing sandwich slices so that I can
• shred it at home.)
• 1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter
• 2 Tablespoons Flour
• 1/3 Cup Pesto, Click Here if you need a recipe
• 1 Cup Heavy Cream
• 2 Tablespoons Parmesan Cheese, Grated fine

Directions:

Dough

1. Add the yeast and sugar to the warm water and allow it to sit for 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, combine the cake flour, 2-1/2 cups of all-purpose flour, and salt.
3. Add the yeast mixture to the flour and stir to form a soft dough.
4. Using your hands, quickly and gently knead any scraps or flour into the dough.
5. Coat a bowl with olive oil, and place the dough in the bowl, turning it once to coat with oil.
6. Cover and let rise in a warm place.
7. The dough should double in volume in about 1-1/2 hours, then flatten the dough and cut into 4 equal size pieces.
8. Drape with a towel and make the sauce.

Sauce

1. In a saucepan over medium heat add butter and let it start to bubble.
2. Add flour and whisk for 1 min.
3. It should form a ball.
4. Slowly whisk in the heavy cream, pesto and Parmesan.
5. Add salt and pepper if needed and taste for flavor.
6. You can add a bit more pesto or cream depending on how strong you want the flavors.
7. Press out the pizza dough and cover with creamy pesto sauce.  As much or as little as you like.
8. Top with cheeses, chicken, and roasted garlic.
9. Bake 8-12 minutes at 500 degrees.
10. Remove from the oven and top with Sun Dried tomatoes.
11. Place remaining dough in a ziploc and refrigerate overnight or freeze for up to 3 weeks.

Roast garlic by slicing off the top of the cloves, placing on a cookie sheet, cover with foil, in a 400 degree oven for 30-35 min or until soft

Nutrition Information

Yield: 4-6 servings, Serving Size: 1

• Amount Per Serving:
• Calories: 789 Calories
• Total Fat: 42.6g
• Cholesterol: 124.4mg
• Carbohydrates: 70.6g
• Fiber: 3.5g
• Sugar: 3.9g
• Protein: 31.3g

All images and text ©Carrian Cheney for Oh Sweet Basil.

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