Cluck & Squeal Genoa Chicken Pesto Pizza

The Cluck & Squeal GENOA Chicken Pesto Pizza! This pizza offers an array of rich flavours starting from the quality pesto base to the meticulously prepared toppings, expertly seasoned with Cluck & Squeal All Purpose and our signature Himalayan Seasoned Salt. Every bite of this unforgettable pizza delivers a harmonious blend of flavours, leaving you craving more.

PIZZA SERVING SIZE: 

Approximate to measure for 1 – 13 to 14” personal size pizza 

INGREDIENTS: 

• Olive Oil – enough to brush the top of the crust area before baking. 
• ¼ cup Pesto (quality store bought or homemade) 
• 1/3 cup sauteed Cremini Mushrooms with Olive Oil, 1 garlic clove chopped, white wine and seasoned to taste once browned with our Cluck & Squeal Himalayan Seasoned Salt 
• 1/3 cup pre blanched then lightly sauteed Spinach with Olive Oil and seasoned to taste with Cluck & Squeal Himalayan Seasoned Salt (approximately ½ teaspoon)  
• 2 bone in, skin on Chicken thighs seasoned with Cluck & Squeal ALL PURPOSE Seasoning & BBQ Rub and wood fire roasted and sliced into strips for topping. 
• ½ to ¾ cup grated Brick cheese or high-quality mozzarella (fresh mozzarella should not be grated, chop in chunks or thick slices to prevent from burning.  Brick cheese is a high fat cheese and is great in wood ovens.  
• ¼ cup Sundried Tomatoes rehydrated in hot water for 5 minutes, drained then seasoned with the Roasted Garlic Himalayan Seasoned Salt Oil or buy a quality brand jarred in oil (we prefer the Aurora Brand Sundried Tomatoes)

RECIPE: 

Step 1 – Remove pizza dough from refrigerator 1 hour before making the pizza, keep covered. Room temperature dough is ideal. 

Step 2 – Coat the dough ball in flour for handling and spread out by hand preferably or minimally with a rolling pin and take over by hand.  Try not to over work the dough forcefully, doing so will change the texture.  Shaping the dough by hand will help keep the dough airy when baked to a crust.   

Step 3 – Set yourself up the way you prefer to build the pizza.  Once you have spread the dough to your desired size and thickness.  Flour the counter surface lightly and top the pizza as quickly as possible.  Building the pizza on the counter will require you to pick up the pizza with a metal pizza peel (pizza shovel or scooper).  This method could be difficult for some, no worries, try building the pizza right on a lightly floured wood pizza peel.  Top the pizza quickly and refrain from getting any moisture on the wood peel.  Keeping the peel dry with a little bit of a shake will allow for an easy slide off right onto the stone floor of the wood oven.   

Step 4 – Brush the perimeter top side of the dough with olive oil.  Once baked you will have no flour on the surface of the crust with a beautifully baked finished. 

Step 5 – Spread the Pesto on the base of the dough keeping it away from the outer crust area approximately 1”. 

Step 6 – Top the pizza with the sauteed cremini mushrooms and spinach evenly but less in the centre.  Less weight in the centre of the pizza will make it easier to pick it up if you are using a metal pizza peel (pizza shovel or scooper). 

Step 7 – Spread the grated cheese as even as possible but lessening some cheese in the centre.  Gravity will take over when baking and it will all melt and spread perfectly.  The cheese seals and locks in the flavours of the pesto, mushrooms, and spinach.  

Step 8 – Top the pizza with the sliced roasted chicken.  On most of my pizza combinations I place the proteins on top of the cheese.  I believe the fats from the cheese and protein cook well together in this way. 

Step 9 –   For a wood oven pizza the stone floor should be at a 650F to700F.  Use a laser thermometer to get the floor temperature.  If you have a stone oven your dome temp may be 850F to 900F.  Add enough wood for a decent fire to illuminate the oven when baking the pizza.  We prefer to bake this pizza for 2 minutes so the items cook well together, and the crust is the right colour and texture. 

Step 10 – Bake the pizza. 

Step 11 – Remove the pizza and place your pizza on a cooling rack for 1 minute before cutting. 

Step 12 – Cut the pizza and top it with the chopped sundried tomatoes.  

Smash a slice! 

PURCHASE CLUCK & SQUEAL ALL PURPOSE SEASONING AND BBQ RUB
PURCHASE CLUCK & SQUEAL SEASONED SALT MADE WITH HIMALAYAN SALT

VIDEO RECIPE: