California Pizza Kitchen-Style Gluten Free BBQ Chicken Pizza
Ingredients
1 recipe Thick-Crust Gluten Free Pizza Dough
1/4 cup (56 g) extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound bone-in chicken parts
1 tablespoon kosher salt
About 3/4 cup (6 fluid ounces) gluten free BBQ Sauce
5 ounces smoked gouda cheese, grated
5 ounces low-moisture mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 small red onion, peeled, halved and sliced very thinly
Chopped fresh cilantro, for sprinkling
Instructions
Make the pizza dough according to the recipe instructions and place the dough in the refrigerator in a sealed container.
Make the chicken. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and place the chicken parts on top. Drizzle about half of the olive oil evenly on top of the chicken pieces, and sprinkle with kosher salt. Place in the center of the preheated oven and roast until the juices from the chicken run clear and the meat registers 165°F on an instant-read thermometer (about 45 minutes). Set the chicken aside to rest until it is cool enough to handle. Remove the meat from the bones and discard the skin. Shred the chicken with two forks and set it aside. Increase the oven temperature to 400°F.
Shape the pizza dough. Place a pizza stone (or overturned rimmed metal baking sheet) on the bottom rack of your oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until smoother as directed in These General Shaping Tips. Divide the chilled dough into two equal portions, and roll each into a ball. Sprinkle both lightly with flour, and cover one with a moist tea towel so that it doesn’t dry out. Using well-floured hands and a rolling pin, as necessary, pat and roll out the first piece of dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch round, rotating the dough and flouring it frequently, to prevent sticking, as shown in the gluten free pizza shaping video. Roll and pat the dough more thickly as you work from the center of the dough to the edges to create a crust. Transfer the round of dough to a piece of unbleached parchment paper. Repeat with the second piece of dough. Using a pastry brush, brush the entire surface of each pizza round sparingly with extra-virgin olive oil.
Top the pizzas. Spread an even layer of about 1/4 cup of the bbq sauce on top of each pizza, leaving a 1-inch border all around. Top each with about half of the shredded chicken, drizzle lightly with more bbq sauce, then top each with 3 ounces of grated smoked gouda cheese, followed by 3 ounces of grated mozzarella cheese, and a sprinkling of sliced red onions.
Bake the pizzas. Place each crust, one at a time, each still on its parchment paper, on the hot pizza stone. Bake until the crust is browned and your toppings are cooked as desired (about 7 minutes, but time will vary depending upon how crisp you’d like the crust). As soon as each pizza is removed from the oven, sprinkle it with chopped cilantro. Allow the pizza to set for a few minutes before slicing and serving.