A new brewery/restaurant opened near my house over the summer and it is now my favorite place to go because of a) the proximity to my house (I can walk there!) b) the beer is good and c) the food is fantastic.  So far, one of my favorite items I’ve eaten there was a barbecue chicken pizza with smoked Gouda, green pepper, red onion, and bacon (which I 86’d).  Being a lover of smoked Gouda, I decided I could easily try to make something similar in my own kitchen.  The result was this Barbecue Chicken and Smoked Gouda Pizza.

At the time I made this, I couldn’t remember what the restaurant included in their pizza so I didn’t include any veggies of any kind but you could easily add on anything you like here.  Since you could put smoked Gouda on a piece of cardboard and I would probably eat it, it’s no surprise I love this pizza. And barbecue chicken? I mean, come on, really? What’s not to like?  Since I used store-bought pizza dough and pre-cooked rotisserie chicken, this pizza came together in a flash.  With so many different kinds of barbecue sauces out there, you can get as creative as you want. I used plain old basic barbecue sauce but a spicy or mesquite barbecue sauce would be excellent here too.

Barbecue Chicken and Smoked Gouda Pizza (6-8 servings)

The ingredients:

Unroll pizza dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake according to package directions, approximately 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium-sized bowl, combine shredded chicken with 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce until chicken is lightly coated. Spoon remaining barbecue sauce onto pizza crust and spread evenly. Top with shredded chicken and red onion (if using).

Sprinkle shredded smoked Gouda over chicken, followed by shredded mozzarella cheese.

Bake at 400°F for 8-10 minutes until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted. Top with chopped cilantro, basil or parsley (if preferred).