Chicken Parmesan Pizza

This started off as a "what do I do now" kind of thing.  I'd made chicken strips on Friday night to have as breakfast and lunch while hunting on Saturday.  Unfortunately, as I was walking in to the hunting area I slipped on a small downed tree trunk going up a hill and slightly pulled a back muscle trying to keep from falling.  After all, it's no fun falling with a climbing tree stand strapped to your back while carrying your rifle.  I decided to forego the evening hunt because sitting in the tree stand in the cold was causing my back to twinge more and more.  Thus, no need to eat the chicken strips for lunch.


A word about the chicken strips.  These are quick and easy and better than the frozen ones with the advantage of being able to season them according to your taste.  I cut the breast in half lengthwise though they could be cut into thirds for a thinner chicken strip.  I sprinkle hot Hungarian paprika on the bone side of the breast then roll the pieces in my seasoned flour.  I typically roll them in the flour twice after they've sat for a bit for a thicker coating.  A quick fry in a skillet and they are done.

Fried Chicken Strips

The drive home gave me time to contemplate what to do for supper.  I was wondering if I could use the chicken strips in some fashion and the realization that we'd not had pizza in a while hit me.  So, from an accident came the chance to experiment and produce Chicken Parmesan Pizza.


I used the recipe for 10 minute pizza crust that I've talked about before.  Here's the post with the link to the pizza dough recipe,  Chicken Pizza.  As before, I prefer to make one large pizza rather than two smaller pizzas.  I really like this recipe for a quick pizza.

Fresh crust ready to build

Before I started on the crust, I got some marinara sauce started.  My basic sauce is some good canned tomatoes pureed then seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, and Italian seasoning.  Give it a good stir and bring to a simmer.  The garlic can be either garlic powder or a few cloves of garlic pureed at the same time as the tomatoes.  This is a good all around sauce for pizza, dipping fried mozzarella sticks, or as the base for spaghetti sauce.

Chicken on the pizza

The chicken strips were sliced crossways about 1/4 inch thick.  Once the marinara sauce was on the pizza dough, the chicken was arranged to give the best coverage.  The chicken then got a generous sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese topped by shredded Mozzarella cheese.  Then it was in the oven on the pizza stone.

Ready for the oven

From start to finish this probably only took about 30 minutes or so.  If you choose to use a jar sauce you could cut that down by 5 to 10 minutes.  In regards to oven clean up I used parchment paper on the pizza peel instead of the usual corn meal.  The good wife had cleaned the oven prior to Thanksgiving so am trying to keep it clean for as long as possible.

Chicken Parmesan Pizza hot from the oven

If you like pizza, homemade is the way to go.  30 minutes start to finish beats any commercial pizza place any day.  Even if you get it delivered you'll be eating pizza sooner than you would if you ordered it.  With this pizza dough recipe and some basic ingredients from your pantry you can have hot fresh pizza made according to your preference.


Give this a try and let me know what you think.


Uncle T