Chicken Caesar Pizza

One of my favorite pizzas is from Sauce- a Chicken Caesar Pizza. It's perfect for Spring/Summer and it's easy to make so give it a try! The dough recipe I use is from my Pizza Margherita recipe, below. So make the dough, shape into pizza, cook it for 5 minutes (on pizza stone preheated as directed below), add parmesan cheese and cook it for 3-5 minutes longer. Then top it with a classic Caesar Salad lightly tossed with dressing. My salad consisted of romaine, Costco chicken, tomatoes, a little cheese, and a Light Caesar dressing. So easy. To make this family friendly I just make extra dough for the kiddos to make their own pizzas- they love that. Any recipes you love for this time of year? Let me know!

PIZZA MARGHERITA (courtesy of Cook's Illustrated, although modified just a bit)
This recipe makes 2 pizzas, but as they're thin, it only serves about 3-4 adults. You can shape the second pizza while the first is cooking. They cook quickly and get cold quickly so be ready to eat when the first pizza comes out!
Crust:
1 1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 c water
1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
1 c cake flour (Substitute: One cup all-purpose flour minus one Tablespoon)
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
Topping:
1 (28-oz) can diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp sugar
1 small garlic clove, pressed through a garlic press or minced
1/4 c chopped fresh basil (I just roughly chop it)
table salt
8-oz fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
kosher salt

Adjust oven rack to lowest position, set pizza stone on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Whisk yeast into water to dissolve. In food processor, combine flours, salt, and sugar to combine. With machine running, pour liquid slowly through feed tube. Continue to mix until comes together in smooth, cohesive ball. If dough sticks to bowl, add a little flour at a time until it forms ball. Or, if dough appears dry, add a little water at a time until ball forms. Turn out of food processor bowl onto floured surface, and divide dough into two smooth balls. Place on greased baking sheet about 3 inches apart and cover loosely with greased plastic. Let rise until double, about 1 hour.

In clean food processor bowl, process tomatoes two or three 1-second pulses, until broken up a little. *Be cautious here, if you like chunkier bits of tomato, process less. If you process too much, it ends up almost like juice. Pretty much useless! Transfer tomatoes to fine-mesh strainer set over bowl and let drain 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to release liquid. Transfer to bowl and add sugar, garlic, 1 T of chopped basil and 1/4 tsp salt.

When dough has risen, working with one round at a time, carefully stretch or roll dough into 12" round (will be thin) on parchment paper. Spread about 1/2 cup of sauce over the round, leaving about 1/2 inch border. Quickly remove pizza stone, slide parchmant paper with dough onto stone, and replace in oven and bake until crust just begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and quickly sprinkle half of cheese cubes evenly over, then replace in oven. Bake just 4-5 minutes more until cheese is melted. Shape 2nd pizza crust while baking. Remove pizza to large cutting board so stone is free to cook 2nd pizza. On finished pizza: sprinkle 1/2 of chopped basil, drizzle 1 tsp olive oil, and sprinkle with a little kosher salt. Slice and serve (while cooking the 2nd pizza!). Delizioso!