Balsamic Strawberry Pizza with Chicken, Sweet Onion and Applewood Smoked Bacon

Ingredients:

½ cup strawberry jam or preserves

¼ cup Luna Olivo Portofino balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon Chili Sauce

1 ball pizza dough, your favorite or a purchased ball of dough*

1 cup diced or shredded chicken breast

½ cup applewood smoked bacon, cut in 1 inch pieces, cooked and drained

½ cup thin sliced sweet onion

12 ounces shredded Italian blend cheese, I used Sargento, but whatever you like best is fine

¼ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped

¼ cup fresh strawberries, diced small

Directions:

1. Place pizza stone or sheet pan on middle rack of oven. Preheat oven to 450?F.

2. Place balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan. Warm up and add strawberry preserves and Chili Sauce and mix well. Set aside to cool.

3. Pat or roll out pizza dough on a lightly floured surface to approximately a 14 inch circle. Shape does not have to be perfect as this is a rustic pizza. Place a piece of parchment paper, slightly larger than your dough on a pizza peel or an upside down sheet pan. (The parchment paper will make your transfer of the pizza to the oven infinitely easier!) Sprinkle parchment paper lightly with cornmeal. Fold dough in quarters and place on parchment paper, then unfold.

4. Combine chicken with 2 tablespoons of the balsamic-strawberry mixture and mix to coat all chicken with sauce. Pour rest of sauce onto pizza dough and spread to cover. Leave a 1 inch border all around the edge. Scatter chicken evenly over the sauce.

5. Place about 3/4 of the cheese on top of dough and spread to cover sauce evenly. Scatter  bacon and sweet onion over cheese to distribute evenly. Scatter remaining cheese over this layer.

6. Slide parchment paper with pizza on top onto stone or cookie sheet. Bake for approximately 8-10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and crust is golden brown. Watch carefully, at this temperature it is easy to burn the pizza!

7. Remove from oven and let cool slightly, 1-2 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and fresh diced strawberries. Serve and enjoy!

*You can purchase pizza dough from Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and many other grocery stores. Often pizzerias will sell a ball of their own dough for a very reasonable price.