Buffalo Garlic Ranch Pizza #RSC

Ready, Set, Cook! Hidden Valley Contest Entry. This has a tangy sauce which melds well with all flavor aspects of the pizza. Commercially made buffalo chicken pizzas turn me off, falling way short of my expectations. I feel that making a buffalo chicken pizza is a tricky bit, since the flavors have to go together like interlocking pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and you just cannot force a piece into a place it was not meant to go. The flavors in this pizza, do go together extremely well, and only serve to lift each other higher than they would be alone. The whole thing reads like a romance novel, but it is really not that hard and the steps come together very quickly. And it is SO much better than delivery.

• Ready In: 40 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• For the Crust

• 1 (11 ounce) package  pillsbury  thin pizza crust
• 1  teaspoon  Hidden Valley Original Ranch Seasoning Mix
• 1⁄2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1  teaspoon olive oil
•  parchment paper

• For the Sauce

• 8  ounces tomato sauce
• 3  tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3  tablespoons  louisiana  hot pepper sauce, such as Frank's
• 1⁄2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1⁄4 cup  grated parmesan cheese

• For the Buffalo Chicken

• 8  ounces boneless chicken breasts
•  salt
•  pepper
• 1⁄4 cup  reserved  pizza sauce (see above)

• To Finish

• 1  cup  slivered shallot
• 2  whole bulbs of garlic, roasted
• 1 -2  teaspoon olive oil
• 5 -6  ounces  sliced vermont white cheddar cheese
• 5 -6  ounces  sliced provolone cheese
• 5 -6  ounces  grated mozzarella cheese
• 2  tablespoons  grated parmesan cheese
• 1⁄4 cup  Hidden Valley® Original Ranch® Dressing
•  red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 ° F. Place rack in center of oven and preheat pizza stone or baking stone from a cold start.
2. Cut off just enough of the tops of the garlic bulbs that you can see the garlic in each clove; drizzle with a small amount of olive oil, wrap in foil and bake for one hour. Remove from oven, allow to cool, then squeeze the roasted garlic out of the papery husk and set aside until later.
3. On a sheet of parchment paper, unroll pizza crust and sprinkle with Ranch seasoning and garlic powder. Fold dough in half to press seasonings into dough, then work dough into a ball and allow to rest in a warm, draft-free place on the parchment paper while you prepare the pizza ingredients.
4. In a small saucepan, whisk together tomato sauce, butter, hot pepper sauce, and garlic powder, and heat over low heat, stirring frequently, for about 15 minutes, to give the flavors time to blend.
5. Flatten the chicken breast between plastic wrap with a meat mallet. You can omit this, but maximizing the area for seasoning improves the flavor of the chicken. Season each side of the chicken with salt and pepper, then dredge chicken in 1/4 cup of the pizza sauce.
6. Cook the chicken over moderate heat for about 15 minutes or until it is cooked through. Set aside and chop into bite sized pieces after about 5 minutes of rest. Add the shallots to the cooking pan and saute just until softened, but not caramelized.
7. To the remaining pizza sauce, stir in the 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese.
8. Check your pizza dough; it should not be cool to the touch. If it feels warm, flatten with the palm of your hand, then beginning in the middle of the dough, squeeze it outward like squeezing toothpaste from a tube, rotating the dough as you squeeze. Slap the dough over the top of your fist as you go, then place back down on the parchment paper and press/roll it out until it is about 12 inches in diameter. If the dough draws back up, it is too cold/tight and needs to rest further in a warm place before it will stretch out.
9. Slide the parchment onto a peel and then onto your baking stone and parbake for about five minutes. Your dough may appear to bubble and blister. This is good.
10. Remove the dough from oven and brush with a teaspoon of olive oil (this will help keep the crust from absorbing the sauce and getting soggy). Then ladle the pizza sauce on, beginning in the middle and spreading out to within an inch of the edge.
11. Top the sauce with a layer of white cheddar slices and provolone slices. Place the chicken, shallots, and roasted garlic cloves on top of that, then top with the shredded mozzarella and a dusting of Parmesan.
12. Slide the pizza on the parchment onto your baking stone and bake for about 15 minutes give or take, until the crust is gloden and the cheese melted and lightly browned.
13. Drizzle the top of the pizza with the Ranch dressing and sprinkle with red pepper flakes, if desired. Cut into slices and serve.