Barbecue Chicken Pizza... prepared on the barbecue grill

We have prepared Barbecue Chicken Pizza before, when I told you about my uber-cool friend Michele (by the way, Happy Birthday, Michele!)  But since it's called barbecue chicken pizza, why don't we try it on the barbecue.

We first tried grilling pizza with the Sausage and Pepper Pizza.  The process is exactly the same. (read all the details on the assembly and science behind the cooking process here). We'll create a thin crust, grill all of the ingredients, cook one side of the crust, cover the cooked side with toppings, then place it back ont he grill for the last couple minutes.

Now I have listed jalapeno peppers here and I know some of you have an aversion to heat.  There are ways to decrease the pepper's firepower so it won't burn your sinuses out.  The first thing to do is to take the top of the pepper and take the center nodule out, the location of the seeds.  The majority of the capcaicin is in the seeds, so cleaning them out will help.  Also, if you cut the pepper in half and then slice out any white membrane in the middle, you'll reduce the heat significantly.

You can use any kind of barbecue sauce you want, including our recipe, which you can see here.  The key to all of it is grilling all the ingredients beforehand and making sure the cheese is not freshly out of the refrigerator.  Cold cheese won't melt well in the short time on the grill, so make sure it'shad some time to warm up.  And if you're a cheese fan, remember that a large layer of cheese won't have time to melt while the second side is cooking.  Put on enough as an accent and that's it, unless you have a creme brulee torch.  In that case, well, you could blast it over the pizza after it's off the grill to melt a thin layer of cheese into one solid mass of cheesy goodness.  Your choice. 

Barbecue Chicken Pizza Grilled on the Barbecue

Makes 3 9-10 thin-crust pizzas
1 pizza crust recipe, separated into three dough balls
3-4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 medium red onion
2 jalapeno peppers (optional)
1 1/2 cup barbecue sauce (our recipe or your bottle, you choose)
1 1/2 cup room temperature shredded monterey jack cheese

Fire up your grill and place it on medium heat.  Slice the onion into quarters, then peel each layer apart and lance them on skewers.  Stab the peppers with skewers as well.  Once the grill is up to temperature, place the chicken breasts, onions and peppers on the grill and barbecue them until they're thoroughly cooked.  

Once cooking is complete, remove all of the food.  Slice the chicken breasts into small strips.  Slide the onions off the skewer and chop them down to the desired size.  Top the jalepeno pepper and remove the internal membranes and seeds (if you want to remove some heat).  Slice the pepper into rings.  Set everything aside for the time being. Clean your grill slats. Crank up the grill to high and allow it to get as hot as possible with the lid down.

Stretch your pizza crust out into 9-10 inch, thin style rounds.  Brush a light coating of olive oil onto both sides of the crusts. Move them to plates when they're ready to cook.  Grab a pair of spatulas or a pizza peel (if you have it), and bring all the ingredients out to the grill.

Drop the heat of the grill to medium.  Open the grill and quickly rub the grill surface with a vegetable or olive oil soaked cloth held by a pair of tongs.  Place the crust on the prepared area and immediately close the lid. Check on the crust in 2 minutes. 

Open the lid and using your peel or cookie sheet, flip the crust back onto the plate you used to transport the crust.  Pour your barbecue sauce onto the crust and lay out the chicken, onions and peppers.  Sprinkle the cheese over the top, place the pizza back on the grill grates and close the lid again.  Allow it to cook for 2 more minutes.  

Remove the pizza using the peel or spatulas and move onto the next pizza.  Repeat until all of the crust are grilled, then slice up the pizzas and serve immediately.

So the next time you crave Barbecue Chicken Pizza, actually cook it on the barebcue for a great unique flavor.