Barbecue Chicken Flatbread Pizza

Inspired by California Pizza Kitchen's BBQ Chicken Pizza

I was reluctant to make Barbecue Chicken Pizza like California Pizza Kitchen for a long time. Didn't think I would like the heaviness of barbecue sauce on my pizza. So I decided that I would lighten it up by using only half barbecue sauce and the other half tomato sauce (plain old Hunts in the can). Also, wanted my pizza thin so decided to use flatbread that is really popular in stores right now. The pizza turned out great and my kids were wanting it every day for a full straight week...including me!

Ingredients:

2 boneless and skinless chicken breasts
4 round flatbreads, white or whole wheat (6"-7" size)
1/2 cup of barbecue sauce (preferably original Sweet Baby Rays)
1/2 cup of tomato sauce such as Hunts from the can or bottled marinara sauce
1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese (or 1/2 mozzarella and 1/2 smoked gouda)
1/4 cup of thinly sliced red onions, cut in fourths
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp pepper, freshly ground
1-2 tbs olive oil, extra virgin
fresh chopped cilantro (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
Prepare a large baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. (You don't have to cover the baking sheet, it is just for easy clean up.)
Lay out the 4 flatbread rounds onto baking sheet. Set aside.
Gently pound each chicken breast between two sheets of plastic wrap until even thickness...or you can pound the chicken individually in a large plastic baggie for convenience.
Season each breast with salt and pepper.
Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan on medium to medium-high heat.
Sauté chicken in pan for about 4-5 minutes until golden brown in color. It should take about 4 minutes to start turning golden brown, if it browns earlier than the 4 minutes, turn down the heat.
Turn chicken over and cook the other side for 4-5 minutes until golden brown in color and chicken is cooked all the way through. Once chicken is cooked, remove from heat and allow chicken breasts to rest for 5 minutes. (I just keep the chicken in the pan and moved to a burner that is off.) Once rested, chop chicken into small pieces.
In a medium bowl, combine barbecue sauce and tomato sauce.
To assemble pizza, spread about 2 tbs of barbecue sauce/tomato sauce mixture on each flatbread. Evenly spread sauce starting in middle working to the very outer edges. (You will have extra sauce for later use in recipe.)
Next sprinkle 1/4 cup of cheese over each pizza.
Add diced chicken to remaining sauce in bowl and toss.
Sprinkle coated chicken equally over flatbread pizzas and then add sliced onion. (You may have extra chicken depending on how large the chicken breasts are.)
Place pizza on middle rack in your preheated oven and bake for about 5 to 10 minutes until cheese is completely melted. I like to cook it long enough until the flatbread starts to get crisp on the bottom.
Remove from oven and sprinkle with fresh chopped cilantro if desired.

Comments:

- I love the Toufayan brand of flatbread. They are always very fresh tasting. On their website, they provide stores that you can purchase them if you can't find their products in the grocery stores in your area. Endless uses of this flatbread and the wheat is very good!!!

- California Pizza Kitchen uses both mozzarella and smoked gouda cheese.

Tips:

- Since cooking at such a high temperature, closely monitor the pizza while it is cooking so it doesn't burn.

- Feel free to bake or boil the chicken instead of pan searing.

Variations:

- Add crumbled bacon....yum!

- To save time, use rotisserie chicken for this recipe.

- Use refrigerator pizza dough and bake a single pizza rather than 4 small ones.

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