Jerk Chicken and Pineapple Grilled Pizza

This is going to be a long post. I have A LOT to say about this pizza.

For those who don't know, Mellow Mushroom is a pizza chain in (I think) the Southeast. There was a Mellow Mushroom where we lived in Florida, and we were super excited to find a Mellow Mushroom when we moved to NC. 

Mellow Mushroom used to have this pizza - I can't remember what it was called - that was jerk chicken, pineapple, and pesto. It was my favorite; I ordered it every time. I was SO sad to find when we moved to NC that Mellow Mushroom no longer offers this pizza. You could probably "create your own," but I reject this notion. I KNOW it won't taste the same as it did when they had it on their menu. 

I'm so strange.

Anyway, I was randomly thinking about it the other day (as I tend to do about food), and I decided to recreate it. On the grill.

Grilling your pizza creates that wood-fire oven taste. It is so fantastic. I used one of these. If you are interested in grilling pizza, I highly recommend investing in one. This would also taste fantastic on a pizza stone in the oven. 380 degrees for 18 minutes. 

Here's what you need (adapted from what I remember of the Mellow Mushroom pizza) . . .

1 piece of boneless skinless chicken

Jerk seasoning (we used McCormick's)

Garlic powder

1 can of pineapple chunks, drained

1 ball of fresh mozzarella, sliced into thin pieces

Pizza sauce (we used Trader Joe's brand)

Pesto (make your own or buy at the store)

1 bag of mozzarella

Parmesan

Gluten free dough (recipe on the bottom)

Here's what you do...

1. Fire up your grill. Season your chicken evenly on both sides with jerk seasoning and garlic powder, and grill. When done, cut into small, bite-size pieces.

2. While chicken is grilling, build your pizza. Roll out your dough on the pizza grilling pan. Add pizza sauce swirled with pesto. 

3. Then, add chunks of pineapple and pieces of chicken. Lay your mozzarella pieces over your chicken and pineapple. Make sure to leave some room between the cheese and the outside of the pizza - it melts out. Fill in the gaps with the shredded mozzarella, and top with parmesan. 

4. Put on the grill for 18 minutes, or until crust starts to come off the pan and it starts to brown on top. Let it sit for 10 minutes before cutting into it.

5. Enjoy!

I couldn't get over how much this tasted like the original. AND on gluten free dough and everything.

To make GF dough (or any dough) - makes 3 dough balls:

6 cups of GF flour

2 packets of yeast

3 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp honey

2 1/4 cup warm water

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp italian seasoning

2 tsp salt

Here's what you do . . .

1. In a bowl, mix water, yeast, olive oil and honey. Stir well and let sit for 10 minutes, or until it is foamy.

2. Add flour and seasoning. Stir until well blended. You will likely need to use your hands to knead the dough. 

3. Coat the bowl with olive oil, place the dough back in the bowl, and cover with a towel. Let it sit in a warm place for 1.5 hours. 

4. Cut into 3 dough balls. You can freeze what you don't need!

It's really not that difficult to make fantastic pizza at home. SO DO IT!

Confession: I was eating a leftover piece while writing this. We made this pizza twice in one week. I am failing at dieting, but this pizza made cheating well worth it.