Chicken Avocado Pizza

I was glancing through my stash of recipes yet to be blogged tonight, and I have a confession... I actually have more main dish recipes than desserts that are hanging around waiting to be posted. I am hoping this is because I make more dinners than desserts in a typical week, but I fear the real reason is that my turn-around time on desserts is much quicker. What can I say, I definitely have a sweet tooth, but everything in moderation right? 

Since I've started my residency, my husband has been home more often than I have. He has decided that when he's up to cook, he gets to pick the recipe -- translation, we've made quite a bit of pizza in the last few weeks as that is one of his favorite things to make :) I am not arguing too much though. He does a really great job and has picked out some really good, unique pizza recipes! I have 4 or 5 pizza-themed recipes saved up in the aforementioned stash, so in his honor, I am planning to do a series of pizza posts.

 

The first in my series is this chicken avocado pizza adapted from allrecipes.com. Since embracing avocados, we have been finding lots of new ways to use them. This recipe basically makes a simple guacamole and then uses it as a "pizza sauce." Genius. Add chicken, tomatoes and some cheese, and you have a really great pizza. The recipe calls for 2 avocados, and I felt like the amount of avocado-mixture that resulted was too much for our pizza dough. This may depend on the size of your avocados, but if you are planning on making a smaller pizza (12-14 inch), you may want to half the amount of mock-guac that you make. The hubs liked it as is was with more "sauce," so it's your call. Enjoy!

(Printable Recipe)

Chicken Avocado Pizza
Adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1 pkg. or homemade pizza dough for a 12-14-inch pizza
2 avocados, peeled, pitted, and diced
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice, or to taste
salt to taste
1 clove garlic, peeled NOT minced
1 cup shredded chicken breast 
1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 pinch cayenne pepper

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. If you have a pizza stone, place it in the oven while the oven warms up.

Cut a piece of parchment paper large enough for a 12-14-inch pizza. Lightly flour the paper. Roll out or stretch out (using your hands) the pizza dough to your desired size. If it seems to shrink back after you stretch it, let it sit for a few minutes and try again. Slice the garlic clove in half and rub the cut side onto the top of the crust. Set the crust aside.

In a food processor, combine the avocado pieces and cilantro. Puree while adding lime juice and salt to taste. Spread the avocado mixture over the crust. Arrange the chicken and tomatoes over the avocado mixture. Sprinkle with cheese and season lightly with cayenne pepper. Transfer the pizza and the parchment paper to the hot pizza stone or other pizza pan. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the crust begins to brown and the cheese is melted.