Chicken and White Bean Pizza
A new take on weekend night pizza
Weekends are perfect for pizza nights. It’s fun, casual, and everyone loves it. Plus, it’s the perfect excuse to open up a bottle of wine or your favorite beer while cooking.
If you are all about making your own homemade pizza dough, go for it. Nine times out of ten I can’t plan well enough to get it going the day before, so I usually end up picking up a ball of fresh pizza dough from the grocery store. (Which is what I did here.) They have great options in the refrigerated section of both Whole Foods and Aldi. It’s such an easy option and feels like handmade pizza without a lot of work.
Should you want to try something different when it comes to pizza night, this Chicken and White Bean Pizza is unique when it comes to flavor combinations and toppings. Instead of the classic tomato sauce, there’s a garlicky white bean spread with a bit of heat. The toppings include fresh spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and fresh rosemary. There’s also some shredded chicken in there. This is a great way to use up leftover rotisserie chicken or even leftover turkey during the holidays. It’s all topped with shredded fontina cheese, which is my favorite perfectly melty cheese for pizza.
Chicken and White Bean Pizza
1 pound prepared pizza dough (or your favorite homemade recipe)
1 can (15.5 oz) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 cup shredded cooked chicken (leftover roast chicken or rotisserie chicken)
1 cup roughly chopped fresh spinach
1/4 cup julienne cut oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
1 1/2 cups shredded fontina cheese
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary
Bring the pizza dough to room temperature at least an hour before you are ready to make the pizza. (You want to make sure it is pliable enough to stretch and hold its shape without shrinking back away from the edge of the pizza pan.)
Heat oven to 450 degrees F. Stretch the dough over a 12-inch pizza pan.
Place beans, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and red pepper flakes in a food processor and process until smooth. (Take a look at the consistency, if the mixture is not spreadable, add a little more olive oil and blend again.)
Spread the bean mixture evenly over the pizza crust. Scatter the chicken, spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes over the bean mixture. Top with the cheese and sprinkle with the fresh rosemary.
Bake for 13-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and edges are golden.