Chicken Mole Chili Pizza

Every week when I'm menu planning, I ask JJ if there's anything he wants for dinner. He pretty much always says no. Occasionally he'll say, "something Mexican, or some kind of pizza." That's the most direction I'll ever get though. It's great that he'll eat anything, but sometimes I feel like I'm always cooking for me, using my favorite ingredients and flavors. When he said he'd like a new kind of pizza with chicken, I decided to try to make something he'd especially like. 

I had half of the chipotle chili dark chocolate bar sitting in my freezer leftover from the Mexican Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls I made the week before, and decided to brainstorm a bit. Immediately, chicken mole came to mind, but I had to figure out the best way to apply it to a pizza. I decided to make a chicken mole, but finely dice the chicken, simmer it a bit until it shreds, and use it as the sauce base. I topped the pizza with peppers and Monterey jack cheese, and garnished it with cilantro. We both loved this pizza, it was bursting with flavor, and was a completely new, fun way to enjoy pizza night! 

Chicken Mole Pizza

Chicken Mole:

1 tbsp. EVOO

1/2 lb. chicken breast, diced into 1/2" cubes

Salt and pepper

1 onion, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 jalapeno, minced

1 15 oz. can tomato sauce

2 tbsp. ancho chili powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. ground corriander

1 tsp. smoked paprika

1.5 oz. chopped chipotle chocolate (or 2 tbsp. cocoa powder)

Heat a dutch oven over medium heat. 

Add EVOO and chicken, season with salt and pepper.

Add onion, garlic and jalapeno, stir to combine.

Sauté for 5 minutes, until vegetables are soft and chicken has browned a bit.

Add tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin, corriander and paprika, stir well to combine, turn heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.

After 25 minutes, if mixture is too thick, add 1/4-1/2 c. chicken stock (you want it to be thick, but not dry).

Turn heat off, add chocolate, stir to melt in.

Whole Wheat Mix pizza crust (makes 2, 10" crusts):

1 packet fast acting yeast

1 tbsp. honey

1 1/4 cup warm water

1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. EVOO

In a standing mixer with the dough hook on, add water, honey and yeast, stir to combine, set aside for 5 minutes, until yeast froths.

Add 1 c. whole wheat flour, salt, EVOO and AP flour to mixer. 

Turn on low and begin to mix. 

Add more whole wheat flour as necessary if dough is too sticky, alternately add water if it's too dry. 

Knead on medium-low speed for 5 minutes, set aside to proof.

Punch down, divide in half. 

If only using 1 crust, the other can be wrapped loosely in plastic (it will continue to rise), put in a freezer bag, and frozen.

Roll or stretch out pizza crust over parchment, set aside. 

Pizza:

1 pizza crust

Chicken Mole 

1 green bell pepper, sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, sliced

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1/2 cup cilantro, minced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees, place pizza pan or stone in the oven.

Roll out crust on parchment, top with chicken mole mixture, peppers and cheese.

Slide onto stone or pizza pan already in the oven.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, until crisp on the bottom, and golden brown on top.

Cool for 5 minutes, slice and garnish with cilantro.