Capsicum Pesto BBQ Chicken Pizza with Caramelized Onions

Time once again for Taste & Create. Past time actually, this post was due by last night, but my ankle was playing up from an injury from ten years ago, and we ended up having Hungry Jacks for dinner instead. Which was not nearly as nice as this pizza from My Year on the Grill.

Mmmm, rustic!

We used my most recent regular pizza dough, instead of his recipe, and I didn't use bbq sauce on the chopped chicken, but other than that I followed his steps. Oh, and I had pine nuts in the pantry already, so I used them in the pesto and I subbed one of the 'peppers' for a package of fire roasted capsicum strips, to give it a slightly more depth. And I forgot to get tomatoes, so I added some baby spinach leaves under the cheese.

I made mine pretty much upside down, both from how I would usually make a pizza, and from what is written on My Year on the Grill, but he did mention that the pesto could go top or bottom, and putting it on the top would have changed the flavour of the pesto. My pesto had a very sharp flavour from the garlic, so I thought I'd put it on the top. Here are my assembly photos - I didn't take a photo of the onions by themselves, as dark onions in a black pan wouldn't have photographed well. Plus, I forgot. ;)

Just spinach


Add a little tasty cheese


Some shredded roast chicken


Those crazy onions (so sweet!)


The capsicum pesto layer


A touch more cheese because I can't help myself

I even had leftover chicken and pesto, so I mixed the two together and froze them for a pasta sauce someday down the track. (The chicken will be fine as long as I thaw it properly and cook it through again)

This pizza was nice, though I'm not sure if I'd make it again. Miss Four reaffirmed my position as "The Best Cooker Ever" but it was far too sweet for my liking. The sugar on the onions is probably what tipped the scales for me. Still, if you want a gourmet pizza, that passes muster by children, this'll do it. Plus, you know, the vegie thing!

Go and visit My Year on the Grill, he has some crazy awesome recipes, especially these Cashew Butter Truffles that would have been this Taste & Create entry, only I knew if I made them, I'd eat the whole batch myself.