BBQ Chicken Flatbread Pizza

I love remixing leftovers for a lunchtime or weekend meal. We're stepping our game up this recipe and introducing bread-making. Don't be afraid, it's actually very simple.

Making pizza during the quarantine was one of my favorite things to do for my family. I think this flatbread recipe is the easiest to make and once I purchased my first kitchenaid mixer, it got even easier. Luckily, if you don’t have a stand mixer with a dough attachment, you can still make this recipe.

Let me know if you’d like me to post a bbq chicken recipe but I always make the simplest recipe and I’ll share here: I love to use my Instapot on pressure cook to make pulled bbq chicken in about 30 minutes. You start by sauteing red onions, adding 3 to 4 chicken breasts, ⅓ cup of water, and your favorite bbq sauce. I set the Instapot to pressure cook for 25 minutes and let them cook. Once the time is up, you can check and make sure your chicken breasts are fully cooked and shred with two forks. Add more barbeque sauce, if needed.

For our dough, we will start off with ¾ cup of warm water, 1 tsp of sugar, and 1 tsp of active yeast. Mix well in a bowl and allow it to become foamy at the top. This should take about 10 minutes in a room temperature setting. You’ll mix together the dry ingredients in your stand mixer bowl or a large bowl and add the wet mixture. Stir and make a ball and then knead for about 10 minutes. Or until your fingerprint bounces back slowly when pressing into the dough ball.

We’ll place it in a bowl rubbed in olive oil, cover it with plastic wrap or a damp towel and allow it to proof for 50 minutes. Divide the dough into two personal-sized flatbreads or three mini ones and rub with olive oil. I like to par-bake my dough for 8 minutes at 475F, add my toppings, and then bake for another 6 to 8 minutes. It gives me a crispier crust. If you’d like it softer, you can add the toppings and skip the par-bake or par-bake for less time.

What You Need:

• ¾ cup of Warm Water, warm enough to wake up the yeast- not bath water.

• 1 tsp of Sugar

• 1 tsp of Active Yeast

• 2¼ cup of All Purpose Flour, and about 1 tbsp for kneading.

• 1 Tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, save a tsp for coating the inside of the bowl later. also EVOO.

• 1 tsp of Sea or Kosher Salt

• 1 tsp of Italian Seasoning, optional.

• ½ cup of Your Favorite Barbeque Sauce

• 2 cups of Mozzerella Cheese, freshly shredded- if possible.

• 1 cup of Pepper Jack Cheese, freshly shredded- if possible.

• ½ Red Onion, thinly sliced for topping.

• Banana Peppers Rings, chopped or whole for topping.

• Fresh Cilantro or Chives, roughly chopped for topping- very optional.

• Freshly Cracked Pepper, for topping.

What to Do:

1. Whisk together warm water, yeast, and sugar in a bowl and allow to rest in a room tempterature setting for 10 minutes. The top of the bowl will become foamy from the blooming yeast.

2. In a large bowl or the mixing bowl of your stand mixer, add flour, salt, olive oil, and italian seasoning. Once the 10 minutes is up, add the foamy yeast mixture to the dry mixture.

3. If you’re using a stand mixer, add the dough hook attachment and begin working/mixing on a low setting the dough for 3 minutes. If you’re using a bowl, mix the ingredients with a silicone spatula or spoon until a soft and slightly sticky dough ball has formed.

4. Stand mixer: add flour a tsp at a time if the dough is too soft to form a ball, if not- begin kneading the dough using the hook attachment for 8 to 10 minutes.

5. If using a bowl, drop the dough out on a lightly floured surface and begin kneading the dough. When kneading dough, I like to use the heel of my hand and pull in a pushing motion the dough away from me, fold the dough over and repeat. Here’s a youtube video for my visual foodies!

6. You can check to make sure your dough is ready by poking the dough with your finger. If your print slowly bounces back, its ready. If the print just stays, get back to kneading! The goal is to stretch the dough to make it more elastic.

7. Once the dough has been kneaded, place it in the same large bowl (be sure to wash it first, babe) that has been greased with the remaining EVOO. I like to cover my bowl with plastic wrap or you can use a damp towel. Place the bowl in a room temperature setting and allow the dough to rise for 45 minutes. It would completely double but you can tell the difference.

8. Set the oven for 475F. Divide the dough into two balls and lay on parchment paper or a lightly floured surface. Shape the dough into your desired flatbread size and shape. Be sure to make it thin or you’ll get a thick ass flatbread.

9. Use your fingers to massage the remaining EVOO on the dough and bake for 5 to 8 minutes depending on how crispy you’d like the dough to get.

10. Add your toppings, once the time is up on on the first bake and place back in the oven until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbling.

11. Sprinkle with freshly cracked black pepper and cilantro and serve warm! Congratulation, we made a flatbread pizza together! Let me see your work by tagging me on instagram at @elle.thefoodie!