What's Cooking Wednesday ~ Buffalo Chicken Ranch Pizza

One of my great loves is pizza.  I don't know if it had anything to do with my mom craving it while carrying me, but I think there must be some connection.

There is a local pizza shop around here called "The Corner Store" that makes buffalo chicken ranch pizza.  They call it a "BCR" and it makes us very happy!  We really could eat it every day.  Since it's a specialty pizza, aka "fancy more expensive pizza", we don't eat it everyday.

Yesterday I decided to try and recreate the "BCR".  It ended up being very good and easy to make.  We ate the entire pizza!!  Imagine that? lol

It's best to make your own pizza dough.  You can use store bought if you want, but please don't feel threatened by the crust.  When someone mentions yeast, people cringe.  This is very simple and always works out for us, so give it a try.

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Pizza Dough
Combine 1 teaspoon active dry yeast and 3/4 cup warm water.  Let sit for about 10 minutes.  In a large bowl, mix 2 cups all-purpose flour and 3/4 teaspoon salt together.  Drizzle 3 tablespoons olive oil on top and mix with fork.  Pour in yeast mixture and combine until everything comes together.  Knead a few times and then transfer to a bowl that has been lightly sprayed with oil.  Cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm spot for 1 hour.  (On cooler days, I usually turn my oven on low while preparing this and then turn it off and let the dough sit in there for an hour while it rises.)

Buffalo Chicken Ranch Pizza
2-3 boneless skinless Chicken Breast, cut up in small pieces.
1 cup plus 2-3 tbsp Franks Red Hot Sauce (or your favorite wing sauce)
3 TBSP Butter
3/4 Cup Ranch Dressing
12 oz (or more if you like) Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, sliced thin or grated
1 recipe Pizza Dough

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place chicken in bowl with 1 cup buffalo wing sauce and toss to coat chicken.  Let marinate at least 15 minutes.  I left mine in there while pizza dough was rising, about 45 minutes.

Melt butter in a skillet and stir-fry your chicken.  (Note: I think it would even be better if you grill your chicken first and then cut up in pieces, but our grill was out of gas so I did it this way.)

While this is cooking, roll out the pizza dough and place on a large pizza stone or baking sheet that's been lightly sprayed. Place baking sheet in preheated oven. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until crust just begins to brown. Remove crust from oven and set aside.

Spread ranch dressing over pizza.  Arrange chicken on top of the ranch.  Lay the mozzarella slices over the chicken.  Lastly drizzle a little more hot sauce over entire pizza.

Place pizza in oven on center rack for 12 - 15 minutes, or until crust golden brown and cheese is melted.  Serve hot.  Makes 12 - 16 pieces.

Delightful!!