Strawberry Chicken Pizza with Bacon

I know you're probably reading that title and thinking..."What the heck?".  But I must reassure you...this is the best pizza ever!!  I recently came across this recipe on Pinterest and knew we needed to try it!  It just looked so fresh and delicious!

Now, I'm not normally one for fruit in a savory dish, but for some reason, I just couldn't resist!  It's kind of like Hawaiian pizza...if you're into that kind of thing.  Whenever I hear pineapple on pizza, I cringe, but once I take a bite, I just can't stop eating it!

Even my husband was leary when I told him what was for dinner (he is rarely leary of my cooking).  We even made a "normal" cheese pizza just in case (also for our daughter who is a little picky about certain foods).  We ate a few pieces of the cheese pizza before the strawberry pizza was ready but once we took a bite, we couldn't stop eating it!!  We ate the whole pizza and enjoyed every bite!

Strawberry Chicken Pizza with Bacon

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup strawberry jam/preserves

1 tsp. Siriacha chile sauce (found in the asian aisle at most grocery stores)

1 cup shredded or chopped chicken, cooked

12 oz. mozzerella or italian blend cheese, shredded

1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced

2 slices of bacon, cut into small pieces, cooked, and drained

1/4 cup strawberries, chopped small

1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped

1 pizza dough (homemade or store-bought)

Heat your oven to the highest setting.  If you have a pizza stone, place it on the lowest rack of the oven and allow it to heat up with the oven.

Place balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil, then lower the temperature and allow vinegar to simmer until thickened; 4-5 minutes.  Once thickened, stir in jam and chile sauce.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.

In a small bowl, combine the chicken with 2 Tbsp. of the cooled jam sauce.  Pat or roll out pizza dough on a well-floured pizza piel (or sprinkle piel with cornmeal) and spread remaining jam mixture onto dough.  Top with chicken mixture and sprinkle 3/4 of cheese on top.  On top of the cheese, sprinkle the onions and bacon evenly over the pizza, then top with remaining cheese.

Place pizza in the oven to cook until cheese is melted and starting to brown.  Remove from oven and top with chopped strawberries and cilantro.

Enjoy!