Spoon & Shutter

Two of America's favorite snack foods in one - Buffalo chicken pizza

From Susan: My teenage son has made me promise not to mention his name in my posts, but that doesn’t prevent me from including him from time to time. With Ted away on assignment in Maine this week, the two of us have been on our own for dinner; last night the kid took over the kitchen to make pizza. He’s good at it, too, having developed pizza-making skills with his summer job two years ago at the Southport General Store on our favorite Maine island. This summer he worked in the kitchen at a local country club and thanks to that training, can slice, dice and flip vegetables in a skillet with impressive ease.

The supermarket where I stopped for pizza fixings after work didn’t have fresh dough, but it did have packages of thin, pre-grilled, whole wheat crusts. These turned out to be pretty tasty, and made the pizza assembly a bit easier. With his iPod plugged into the stereo and Jimi Hendrix wailing away, the kid got down to pizza business. First he toasted the crusts on both sides over the gas flame on the stove before drizzling them with a little olive oil and layering on the toppings. For me: fresh mozzarella, goat cheese, sauteed mushrooms, fresh tomato and spinach, with a sprinkling of Parmesan on top. For the kid, his all-time favorite – Buffalo chicken pizza: Buffalo sauce, the last of Sunday’s roast chicken, blue and mozzarella cheeses. Mine may have been healthier, but I ate the whole 10-inch thing, while he left a third of his on the plate.

My "gourmet mom" pizza ready for the oven

... and the delicious finished pie!

I have to remember how easy this was. Our favorite Montclair pizza place, Enzo’s, charges $22 for their Buffalo chicken pizza and if you have all the stuff it’s easy and not expensive to make at home.

A sprinkling of freshly grated Parmesan for the Buffalo chicken pizza

Here is his recipe:

The Kid’s Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Prepare pizza crust or use a pre-made one. Place on a baking sheet and drizzle the crust with olive oil.

In a small saute pan heat 1/2 cup Frank’s Hot Sauce with 1/2 stick butter until butter is melted and mixture is combined and hot. (Use more or less hot sauce to taste.) Add 1 cup cooked chicken, stir well.

Top crust with a layer of sliced or shredded fresh mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle on grated Parmesan cheese.

Cover the cheeses with the chicken in hot sauce. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.

Bake 10-15 minutes or until toppings are bubbly and cheese is lightly browned.

Drizzle chunky blue cheese dressing over the top of the pizza before serving. Note: we used fresh crumbled blue cheese for the pizza pictured above, but he says he prefers the dressing.