Chicken Alfredo Pizza on Pumpkin Crust

Are you skipping this post just by taking a cursory glance at the title? Are you making faces like a small kid by seeing the name ‘pumpkin crust’? Are you scrolling down the post quickly? Still unable to make up your mind about the post? If your answers are ‘yes’ for all the questions, then hop in and surprise yourself ;-). I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

One question which I should have asked you first is, ‘are you a pizza lover?’ Anyways, that doesn’t matter anymore. As you are already here, you definitely is one; isn’t it? I have a tendency to get bored very easily. Be it food or fashion; I can’t tag along with same thing for a long time. Even my beloved pizza is no more exciting on Sundays (though I tried Pesto Pan Pizza few weeks back)! Since then I was looking for fresh ideas and opinions on pizza. And each time I bump into any different looking pictures of pizza I go ahead straight and look for the recipe. Tried few of those for me but frankly speaking none of them were either spectacular or scrumptious.

On the other hand, almost three weeks back I prepared Homemade Pumpkin Puree which I used to prepare Chocolate Glazed Pumpkin Ice-cream Bread with Chocolate Chips and Pumpkin Roll with Chocolate & Cinnamon Filling. I know I had too much of sweetness back to back yet I had to finish large jar full of pumpkin puree!!

As I had already prepared Pumpkin Dough with Pumpkin Puree I was planning to do some garlic swirl roll with the same dough, but then it strikes me why not try the pizza crust with the pumpkin which I had seen in a food magazine sometimes back. I just followed my heart and prepared the dough as I always do. I wanted the pizza to look spectacular so I narrowed down my options of sauce to any white sauce. I quickly prepared Alfredo Sauce plus loads of garlic and minus white wine and shredded some baked chicken for topping. Rest is history now!

Let’s not get into the trance and go straight to the recipe of Chicken Alfredo Pizza on Pumpkin Crust.

Preparation Time: 10 mins

Cooking Time: 15 mins

Resting Time: 240-300 mins

Total Time: 325 mins

Yield: two 12” thin crust pizza

Ingredients:

For the Pumpkin dough/ crust:

All-purpose flour: 3 cup

Baking powder: 1 tsp

Baking soda: 1/8 tsp

Pumpkin Puree: 1 cup (Homemadeor store bought)

Greek Yogurt: ¼ – ½ cup

Oil: ¼ cup

Sugar: 1 tbsp

Salt: 1 tsp

For the Topping:

Alfredo Sauce: 1 cup (Homemadeor Store bought)

Shredded mozzarella: 1 cup

Precooked shredded chicken: ½ cup (I baked 2 chicken breasts, rubbed in olive oil, ground pepper and chili flakes and shred the chicken afterward)

Red onion rings: ¼ cup (cut into roundels)

Italian herbs: 1 tsp

Chili flakes: 1 tsp

Chopped parsley: 1 tbsp

Equipment:

Sieve

Large mixing bowl with lid

Damp cloth

9” or 10” Pizza pan/ nonstick baking pan

Pizza cutter

Rolling board with rolling pin

Parchment paper

Preparation:

In a large bowl sieve flour, baking powder baking soda, sugar & salt together. It is always better to use powdered sugar for any dough if possible.

Make a small well in the middle of the flour mixture and pour oil in it. Now rub the oil and flour mixture together in your palms. It will look like bit crumbled coarse mixture. (See the picture).

Now add the pumpkin puree, yogurt and start kneading the dough. In the beginning it will look like a big mess. But continue kneading and gradually it will produce super soft & smooth dough.

Cover the dough with a clean damp cloth and allow it to rest for 4-5 hrs. (I kept in rest for 6 hrs.) After the resting period the dough will be almost double in size and it will be pliable comfortably. Now when your dough is ready, knead one last time for 1-2 mins to make sure it is completely pliable and smooth. (See Tips)

Now divide the dough in two equal portions. Place one portion in between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out with a rolling pin into a thin layer. Place the other portion of the dough inside the bowl, covered. The thickness of the crust will be ¼” maximum if you are making thin crust. (See Tips)

Spread half of the sauce evenly on the crust and top with ½ cup shredded mozzarella. (See Tips)

Arrange the onion rings, precooked shredded chicken on the top. Also sprinkle herbs and chili flakes. Place the pan in the preheated (200⁰C) oven and bake for 12-15 mins at 200⁰C. By the time the bread will rise up and cheese will be bubbly. Not to mention your home will be filled with the heavenly aroma of freshly baked bread.

Remove the pizza from the oven immediately and sprinkle chopped parsley on top. Cut the pizza into wedges and serve immediately with chilled beer or cold drinks.