SLOW COOKED TOMATO, GARLIC, & BASIL CHICKEN PIZZA

Most recipes I come across online are either too complicated to follow or too simple to possibly be good. My style of cooking is somewhere in between. My cooking has components which are pre-made, or include "cheat" ingredients so to speak, while other aspects are made the hard way, from scratch, with love. My focus is to create fairly easy inexpensive meals with gourmet flavor. Tonight my fiance and I are making a pizza with a twist with a basil tomato theme.

CHICKEN PREP.- It all starts in the slow cooker, where you'll start your chicken 4 hours prior to the pizza's construction. We used a packet of "McCormick Grill Mates Tomato, Garlic & Basil" seasoning, and prepared it as per the instructions on the back. Now add a pound of uncooked chicken with slits cut into each side, and combine the two in the slow cooker set on high temp. Add additional water to cover the chicken. Do not be worried about adding too much water, as the excess will be cooked down in a skillet later on. When the sauce is nearly complete (as detailed in the next step), take the chicken out of the slow cooker, shred it with a fork on a plate, and then add the chicken and remaining strained liquid from the crock pot into a preheated 10" skillet. Then reduce the liquid until all of it is absorbed into the chicken. 

Do not discard liquid in crock pot, use it to pour in saucepan with shredded chicken

Shred chicken with a fork

Reduce...

Reduce some more...

STARTING THE SAUCE: After the chicken is in the slow cooker for 3-4 hours and falls apart easily with a fork, start to prepare the sauce. The sauce is the one area where we suggest that you spring for the better brands. We used "Victoria Tomato Basil" sauce. (OPTIONAL: If you would like to add a bit of saltiness and spice to your pizza, you may add 1/3 lb. browned ground Italian sausage into the sauce as well. We skipped it this time to reduce the fat content).  Next, cook the sauce covered on low-med heat for approx. 20 mins. You should cook it until the sauce has reached your desired thickness based on your preference. 

CONSTRUCTING YOUR PIE: We have tried dough from scratch in the past, as well as pre-made fresh dough, but store bought already cooked crusts are by far the best way to go. It saves time, and does not get too dense, or too soggy (which has happened to us previously with the fresh varieties). We suggest "Boboli" brand thin crust. Preheat the oven based on the instructions on your crust. First, you will want to layer your sauce, leaving a 1" boarder untouched on the edges. Then add your shredded chicken on top of your layer of sauce evenly. Sprinkle with 1-2 cups of a shredded 6 cheese Italian blend. Bake according to the directions on the crust you've purchased. 

layer sauce evenly 

layer shredded chicken

Sprinkle plenty of cheese

ENJOY!

INGREDIENTS

1- Packaged pre-cooked pizza crust (oil for crust)

1- Packet of Mccormick seasoning (calls for oil, water & vinegar) 

1 lb of chicken breast

1-Jar of fancy sauce

2-cups of 6-cheese italian blend

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CHEERS!