Balsamic Chicken Pizza

Yay, I'm back! I'm tired. I need a nap and to unpack and get some errands done. And yet, I'm blogging. Because I looooove you guys :) Hope everyone had a lovely St. Patty's Day! And, onward to Easter...

I love pizza. I love balsamic chicken. I found myself with some thawed pizza dough and leftover chicken pieces one afternoon, thought I'd just make a chicken/onion/pepper type of pizza dealie. Sadly though, I had a deep craving for my balsamic chicken recipe. And then, inspiration hit. Why not have both?

I kinda made this up as I went along, but it was pretty darn fantastic, so I jotted down my ingredients to make this again. And again, I recommend you give Susan's pizza dough a try for this. I loved the sharp yet sweet caramelized onions with the roasted garlic and Parmesan. The parsley added a bit of freshness to lighten it up just a touch (as well as some much-needed color).

Balsamic Chicken Pizza

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp. butter

1 red onion, cut in half and then into thin slices

Balsamic vinegar sauce (click here!)

1 lb. pizza dough

Olive oil, for brushing dough and drizzling

1 c. cooked, sliced chicken pieces (I think I had closer to 2 c., hence all the chicken in my pics)

3-4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped into large-ish pieces

1/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley

To make the balsamic-glazed onions:

Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add butter, and allow to heat until butter is completely melted. Add onions and cook about 3-4 minutes, until starting to soften. Add the balsamic glaze (marinade from recipe linked above). Stir onions occasionally until soft and caramelized and the balsamic glaze has reduced and thickened. Take off of heat, and allow to cool slightly.

Meanwhile: Place chopped garlic in a piece of aluminum foil (make a small pouch). Preheat oven to 400 F. While that oven is preheating, toss in the foil packet of garlic pieces. Allow to cook for about 10 minutes, then remove and cool. Now you have super-yummy roasted garlic chunks, mmmmm.

To assemble pizza:

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface until about 10-12 inches in diameter. Lightly brush pizza dough with olive oil, and then cover with balsamic onions and glaze. Layer with chicken slices, and then sprinkle with roasted garlic and Parmesan cheese. If you want some lovely soft Parmesan cheese to eat instead of having it all melt in, just add half at this stage and sprinkle the rest on top when you pull it out of the oven (like I did).

Brush crust area with olive oil. Pop pizza into the oven and bake for 10-14 minutes, until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted. Remove from oven and sprinkle with parsley and a drizzle of olive oil. Allow to cool at least 5 minutes before slicing and digging in.