How NOT to Cook a BBQ Chicken-Apple-Bacon Flatbread Pizza



 



Don't worry.
I'll share the right way to cook this pizza. It really is easy, if you don't suffer from Kitchen Wildness.
But first, a little backstory. When I told my 85 year-old mom what I was cooking for supper, she said, "I've never heard of such!"

I'd made BBQ chicken pizzas before, using BBQ sauce for a base, and my taste-testers had given it a thumb's up. However, I wanted to be edgy and freaky, so I decided to add apples and apple jelly.

I had no way of knowing that I would embark on a culinary disaster, my own personal Poseidon Adventure. 

source

First, Bandwidth threw away my bacon drippings, which is a felony in the South. But I persevered, slathering extra sauce under and over the toppings.

The finished product looked and tasted like a wet shag rug, not that I've bitten into a rug, but you get the idea.

Bandwidth felt sorry for me, and he was also hungry, so he decided to show me

how to cook a pizza proper! Cooking "proper" is polite Southern slang for, "I'll show you, my pretty, and your little dog, too."

While he cooked, I did a post mortem on my fiasco. If I'd added more Tabasco, or even tossed in some red pepper flakes, I would have only added heat, not depth. The gone-baby-gone bacon drippings would have added depth.

But Bandy's pizzas were perfect.

The cure was to add a small amount of sauce, not a tidal wave.

Easy BBQ-Apple-Bacon Flatbread Pizza

                                               

                                            Quantity: 2 pizzas

2 flatbread crusts

1 deli BBQ chicken

1 apple, cut into small pieces

6 slices applewood bacon, cooked and crumbled

1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped

1/4 cup sliced green onions

snipped chives

1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion

1 - 2 cups shredded cheese

2 tablespoons apple jelly

3/4 cup barbecue sauce

1/8 teaspoon onion salt (or to taste)

Tabasco--dash

ground pepper and Kosher salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Make the sauce: Whisk jelly, BBQ sauce, Tabasco, salt, and pepper. Set aside.

Prepare the toppings: Cut/chop/or slice the chicken, bacon, apple, bell pepper, and red onion. Set aside.

Place flatbread on pizza stones.

Spread a small amount of sauce on each flatbread, a few teaspoons at a time--less is more!

Or you'll end up with Tsunami Pizza:

Use this photo as a guide:

Sprinkle cheese over sauce. Add chicken, peppers, onions, and apples.

Salt and pepper.

Bake pizzas for 10 minutes or until cheese melts. Note: Watch them carefully because

the jam will burn.

Remove pizzas. Sprinkle with bacon, chives, and green onions.

Printable Recipe

An On the Menu Monday contribution.



This adventure left me thinking about odd pizza toppings.

What is the strangest one you've tried? What were the results?

A Foodie Friday contribution.

Photos by MLW; proper pizza by Bandy



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