Cast-Iron Deep Dish Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Recently I got the urge to make homemade pizza. I've never dabbled with making pizza before, but it's such an easy concept... what could possibly go wrong? I decided to go with one of the most popular specialty pizzas around: Buffalo Chicken style but with a deep dish twist. I was very impressed with the results, it came out incredible and all self-bias aside, it was honestly one of the best buffalo chicken pizza's I have ever eaten. Below I will show you the step by step process so you can create your own tasty buffalo chicken pie.

Ingredients

1 lb of Pizza Dough
2 Chicken Breasts
3 Slices of Bacon
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
Gorgonzola Cheese
Blue Cheese Dressing
Buffalo Sauce

Step 1: Grill the Chicken

White-meat chicken breast is best. Try not to over-cook and dry out the chicken, it will continue to cook once on top of the pizza in the oven.

Step 2: Dice Up the Chicken

Slice up your grilled chicken into small square pieces. Place the chicken chunks in a bowl and douse them with your favorite buffalo sauce. I imagine this recipe would work great with BBQ sauce too! Just switch the blue cheese dressing with ranch.

Step 3: Prepare the Bacon

Fry up the bacon slices until crispy. Try not to over-cook the bacon because it will burn on top of the pizza once it gets into the oven.

Step 4: Ready the Dough

Place the dough on a floured surface and let it reach room temperature. Any pizza dough from a grocery store will work, but don't be afraid to ask your local pizza restaurant for a pound. Most pizza joints keep a stock of dough on hand and wouldn't mind selling some to a customer.

Step 5 - Stretch the Dough

Stretch the ball of dough into a circular shape. Try not to thin it out too much and do not fold it over or the dough will lose it's integrity. At this time, pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees (or hotter). The hotter the better.

Step 6: Roll It Out

Roll out the dough into a circular shape on a floured surface. Be aware of the size and try to make it a little larger than the pot/pan you are using. I used a 9" round cast-iron pot. Don't worry if you can't make a perfect circle, it won't matter too much once it's in the dish.

Step 7: Pre-Heat the Cast-Iron Dish

Place the cookware on the stove and turn it to a medium heat. Let the cast-iron heat up prior to adding the dough.

Step 8: Add the Dough

Once the cast-iron is hot, sprinkle it with flour and cornmeal before adding the rolled out pizza dough. Curl the edges up the side and brush a layer of olive oil across the top.

Step 9: Spread Blue Cheese Dressing

The sauce base for the buffalo chicken pizza is a blue cheese dressing. Once the dough begins to bubble, spread a layer of your favorite blue cheese dressing across the top of the surface.

Step 10: Add the Chicken

Dump the bowl of buffalo chicken chunks on top of the blue cheese. Spread it evenly around the middle of the pie. Don't be afraid to let the sauce drizzle.

Step 11: Cover with Sliced Mozzarella

Cover the pizza with a blanket of fresh Mozzarella. The fresh mozzarella is much better than the pre-shredded bags you find at the grocery store.

Step 12: Top with Gorgonzola Crumbles

Add some Gorgonzola cheese crumbles on top of the mozzarella.

Step 13: Place into Oven

Once the pizza is loaded, pop it into the oven and cook at 500 degrees or higher until the crust becomes a golden brown. Be careful not to burn the bottom!

Step 14: Admire Your Work

The pizza pie will look more and more delicious by the minute. It will take roughly 10 minutes in the oven to reach a nice golden crust.

Step 15: Add the Bacon

Trust me, I didn't forget the bacon. Add the bacon at the very end of the cooking process to insure you don't burn it.

Step 16: ENJOY!

Take it out of the oven and let it cool for a minute before diving in! I know it will be hard to wait, but the sauces will be HOT.

Let me know what you think!

Thanks For Reading!