Roasted Garlic Chicken Pizza

I have officially found my very favorite pizza on the planet!  Its a double favorite because it's an original recipe!  The idea came from an episode of "Diners, Drive-In's and Dives" on the Food Network.  I took some very basic notes on the recipe and filled in the blanks myself and it turned out beautifully! 

The secret ingredient is the roasted garlic.  It adds such a deep garlic flavor.  My mouth is just watering right now.  The other important component is the garlic butter.  When you read this recipe, you're going to furrow your brows and think I'm off my rocker, but trust me on this one.  You won't be disappointed.  Melting butter, garlic, cheese and cooked chicken together infuses everything with a nice fresh garlic flavor that really compliments the richness of the roasted garlic.

I was worried that my little kiddos wouldn't appreciate this pizza.  Boy was I wrong!  Next time I'm going to have to double the recipe, because there just wasn't enough of this pizza to go around.

Roasted Garlic Chicken Pizza
Makes 2-12" thin crust pizzas or 1- 12" thick crust pizza

Crust:

3 cups flour
1 Tbs. honey, heaping
1 cup warm water
1 Tbs. yeast
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Toppings:

Pizza sauce
Canned artichokes, coarsely chopped
Black olives
Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 garlic bulb (not a clove, but the whole head of garlic)
Sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil, patted dry and coarsely chopped

Garlic Butter:

1/4 cup butter or margarine
5 cloves minced garlic
Dried parsley (I used about a tablespoon)
Shredded Mozzarella, Monterrey Jack and cheddar cheese (about 3/4 cup total)
Shredded Romano cheese
3 chicken breasts, seasoned, cooked and cut into chunks

To roast the garlic, cut the top quarter of the bulb off and discard.  (It is the pointy side you want to cut off.)  Drizzle about a 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil over the bulb then wrap in foil.  Place the wrapped bulb directly on the oven rack.  Bake at 450° for about 40 minutes or until the garlic is very tender.  Remove from the oven, unwrap and allow to cool.  When cooled, squeeze the garlic cloves from the papery skin and mash.

To make the dough, mix all the ingredients together except the flour.  Add the flour a little at a time and knead or mix until a soft dough forms.  Press onto a prepared pizza pan.

To build the pizza, spread the dough with your favorite pizza sauce.  Then add the chopped artichokes and sliced black olives.  Top with Mozzarella cheese, roasted garlic (you have to kind of spread it on or crumble it the best you can with your fingers) and sun dried tomatoes.  Bake at 475° for 12-15 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted.

While the pizza is baking, prepare the garlic butter.  In a skillet,  melt the butter and add the minced garlic.  Cook until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add the parsley, cheeses and chicken and allow to melt together.  It may look like a gloppy mess, but that's what you want.  Keep it warm and stir often while the pizza cooks.

When the pizza is finished cooking, remove it from the heat and put the garlic butter/cheese mixture on top of the pizza.  Serve hot.  Makes 2 thin crust pizzas or 1 thick crust pizza.

Source:  A Mommy's Original Recipe