It’s a pizza with shredded chicken for it’s base instead of classic pizza dough!? Sounds a bit odd, but it’s a high protein alternative that i was super keen to try – the chicken is supposed to give it a dough like texture! I’m not sure if i’ll be opting to do this often compared to standard dough but as a high protein / keto alternative it definitely passes! It has more hold than other alternative base pizzas such as a cauliflower base pizza!
How to make a shredded chicken base pizza
First up we’ll poach our chicken breasts – place them in a saucepan, cover with cold water, add the stock cube (if using) and bring up to a simmer. Turn the heat low and maintain the simmer for a further 15 minutes. Keep the simmer low and steady to ensure it doesn’t overcook the chicken and make it tough. Take out the chicken breasts and slice in half to make sure they are full cooked through, if pink, return to simmer further. If not, remove from the pan, place onto a chopping board and use 2 forks to shred the chicken like pulled pork into fine strands. Leave a small amount to one side for a topping if you wish for the pizza later – the rest we can use to make the base!
So for the base add all of the ingredients including the chicken into a bowl and give a good stir together to fully combine ensuring the seasoning is well mixed together. Lay the mixture down onto a large baking tray covered with baking parchment, use the back of a spoon to press it down to pack it and shape into a round pizza base (or any shape you want!) shape! Make sure there are no gaps, it’s quite surprising as it holds quite well! Once happy we can bake it, place in a pre-heated oven at 220c/200fan/Gas7/425F for 15 minutes, this is to sort of set the pizza and cook the eggs really bonding it together – whilst it’s baking it’s a good idea to prep the ingredients.
Remove from the oven and cover the pizza in sauce, leaving a little border around the edge. These bits of exposed chicken ‘crust’ will brown a little more and give it a little bite! Add your other toppings and bake at the same temperature oven for a further 10 minutes or so until the toppings are melted / cooked to your liking!
That’s it, I don’t think you can make a calzone out of this, so don’t try! It is more like a chicken burger for a base than anything, but it is a firm base compared to the cauliflower base pizzas i’ve done before and holds the toppings well with a bit of chew, try it!