ISTOCKPHOTO/MICHAEL THOMPSON
After hosting a dinner for our parents, my roommate and I were stuck with a whole bottle of ranch dressing. Neither of us eat salad (I’m allergic and she doesn’t like it), so I decided to create a recipe so the dressing could be used in a non-salad way. What resulted was a grilled chicken bacon ranch pizza (all ingredients were things I already had in my kitchen). I even made the crust from scratch!
Crust
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk or water
Your choice of additional spices (suggestion: Oregano)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. While waiting for the oven to warm up, lightly grease a pizza pan with butter.
Combine flour, salt, eggs, milk (or water) and spices of your choice into a large mixing bowl. Stir using a large wooden spoon.
Once the mixture is thoroughly combined, pour dough onto a round pizza pan and evenly spread out. Make sure the edges are rounded and not too thin.
Bake for about 15 minutes. Watch carefully. Every oven is different. Remove from oven. Set aside.
Tip: If you like a crispier crust, try a pizza stone! Although a little tricky to determine the baking time, the crispy crust will be more than worth it in the end.
Preheat the pizza stone in the oven for 15 minutes and then add the pizza dough. Place back in oven. You’ll know it’s done when the crust is a light brown.
Pizza
1 cup cooked chicken (chopped)
1/4 cup ranch dressing
1 cup tomatoes (diced)
1/2 cup chopped bacon
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (or enough to cover all the toppings)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
Oven should already be set on 400, but once the pizza crust is removed, turn the heat slightly up to 425 degrees.
Combine the chicken, ranch dressing, tomatoes and bacon. Stir in a mixing bowl. Evenly spread mixture over warm pizza crust. Top with mozzarella.
Place pizza back into oven for another 15 minutes. Remove pizza and lightly sprinkle the top with parmesan.
Serves 8.
