Southwestern BBQ Chicken Pizza with Blue Corn Crust

Once again, the Queen paid me a visit and we were discussing what to do with the leftover Costco rotisserie chicken. We thought about it and thought about it, then ventured upstairs to the culinary library and decided upon a Southwestern BBQ chicken pizza with a blue corn crust. It was a deliciously good choice too.

Blue corn meal is a cousin to the yellow corn meal we use all the time, but it is made from the blue corn that is grown in the American Southwest regions. Blue corn meal is a corn meal that is ground from whole blue corn and has a sweet flavor. It was originally developed by the Hopi, the Pueblo Indians of the Rio Grande in New Mexico, and several Southeastern Tribes, including the Cherokee. It remains an essential part of Hopi dishes like piki bread. Blue corn is nuttier, coarser and sweeter than a lot of the other types of corn. It naturally grows blue. It is not chemically enhancds or modified in any way, and has been cultivated by the Native American People for hundreds of years.

Since the dough for the pizza had to rise for about two hours, I made the dough first.

The Dough

The only difference with this dough and other bread or yeast doughs is the addition of the blue corn meal.

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

2 1/4 tsp dry active yeast

2 tsp salt

5 TBSP olive oil – I used a combination of regular olive oil and lime infused olive oil

3/4 cup blue corn meal

about 3 cups flour

Mix the water and the yeast together and let set for about 5-10 minutes, or until it turns frothy.

Combine the flour, blue corn meal and salt together and set aside. Start with 2 1/2 cups of flour, and add more as needed.

Mix the olive oil into the yeast mixture, then add to the flour mixture and combine just until it is all mixed together. Then turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5-7 minutes, or until it forms into a ball. Lightly oil a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl. Cover and set in a warm place to let it rise and double in size, for about 2 hours.

While the dough is rising, make your Mexican BBQ sauce, also known as Adobo sauce. Larry asked what made this sauce different than a regular BBQ sauce. As we all know, there are many different variations of everything. This sauce is not as sweet or as tangy as most BBQ sauces, and has a smoky, softer taste. It is really good too. You can use any kind of tomatoes you like. Play with the varieties. Each one will give a slightly different taste. I used what I had on hand.

Mexican BBQ Sauce

1-1 1/2 TBSP garlic

1/3 cup dry sherry or white wine

1 TBSP olive oil

about 12 oz of tomatoes, roasted

1 1/2 cups of pepper puree or pepper jam – I used a hot pepper jam

3 TBSP packe brown sugar

2 chipotle peppers with sauce, minced

1 TBSP salt

1 1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried thyme and/or marjoram

1/2 cup ketchup

1 tsp ajo chili power or regular chili powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cumin

pepper to taste

1-2 roasted jalapenos, peeled and seeded

Start off by roasting the tomatoes for about 30 minutes at 400* F or 200* C.

Once the tomatoes are ready, place everything in a food processor and blend together until it is a nice smooth sauce. This recipe makes a lot and it freezes well, so unless you are making A LOT of pizza, you will have plenty leftover for other things.

Preheat the oven to 375* F or 190* C.

When your dough is ready, it is time to make your pizza. Spray a pizza stone with cooking spray then scatter a light dusting of blue corn meal on the stone. Place your dough onto the stone and spread it out to fill the pan. I like to turn up the edges of the dough too.

Add a layer of your sauce, then cheese and your toppings. I used jalapeno jack cheese, but you can use whatever type of cheese you like. For my topping, I roasted and diced some bell peppers, orange, yellow and red, and added red onions sliced very thin and diced chicken.

I drizzled a bit more sauce on top of the chicken and added another layer of cheese then put the pizza in the oven to bake. Bake the pizza for 45-60 minutes, or until the dough is golden and the center of the pizza is cooked through.

When the pizza was ready, I made a Mexican salad to go with it. For the salad, I used some red leaf lettuce, orange slices, avocado, red onion, my leftover rosemary vinaigrette, A Salad from Barcelona and topped it with some toasted pecans. !Esta muy delicioso!

Be bold. Be adventurous. Step outside of your comfort zone and walk on the wild side. Once you do, you’ll never go back to the old boring ways ever again. 🙂

Stay warm, stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.