Berry Crust Pizza with Cranberry, Chicken, Red Onion and Mozzarella (Pizza Night!)

Yes, there are also strawberries in this photo.  They go into muffins, too.

Guess what we're eating from our backyard right now?  Berries!  How cool is that?  Last year our plants were young, and we ate a handful of raspberries from them but never managed to get a strawberry.  This year we're eating handfuls daily, and I've even put up some strawberries in the freezer.  If we don't grow enough raspberries to put up,  I'll find a pick your own or some good deals and put up a mess of berries like I usually do.  Berries are so easy to freeze (on a metal tray for several hours before transferring to a zip top bag), and they keep in an operational freezer until I'm ready to use them, like in these muffins. Please note my use of the phrase 'operational freezer'.

I did not start out with the intention of making a blueberry/raspberry crust so I could make a red, white, and blue pizza.  However, I am the sort of person who blooms where she is planted--and this pizza is the logical result of that trait.
I love my daughter, really I do--you're sensing a "but" here? Good.
It all started when she was hosting her social studies castle-building group.  It was fun to see the girls working together all over the main floor of our house.  The table in the living room was the main job site and the breakfast nook table was the glue gun station.  After each construction session my daughter would unplug the glue gun, and whoever needed the microwave next would plug it back in.  Things worked well for the first few sessions, but the third--really, how long does it take to build a castle out of cardboard?  Somehow, the microwave remained plugged in, and my little fruit and vegetable freezer aka microwave stand was unplugged instead.  No one noticed for a day.  Luckily the freezer was due for a defrost before summer "putting up" season got going, and much was still frozen or able to be salvaged.  I'm in good company--when Alyssa's freezer died, she made maple dijon chicken.
I also chose to get creative,  took the bags of thawed blueberries and raspberries, dumped them into my food processor, and made a puree.  We had a bunch of smoothies, and I used a cup of it in this crust--thinking I'd make a patriotic pizza.
I had leftover cooked chicken in the fridge, and excavated a bag of cranberries during the Big Defrost, so this pizza was predestined.  If your grill master is deployed, or you're just not that into the usual red, white, and blue stuff this year--try this.  In this pizza, chicken is optional.  With the creamy fresh mozzarella, tart cranberries, and red onion you can have a meatless, yet still patriotic, pizza.
First, the crust.  I used a cup of blueberry-raspberry puree, but one cup of either berry would be great instead.  Because I don't have the energy to fight fresh dough, I make my pizza dough 2-3 days before Pizza Night.  When dealing with fruit puree, as with beets or squash or spinach or kale, the extra days will allow the flour to fully meld with the berries and what was a slightly wet dough ends up being fine by the time you're ready to bake.

Berry Pizza Dough (makes enough for 2 pizzas)

1 cup pureed unsweetened berries (I used half blueberry and half raspberry)

about 1/2 cup/120 ml water (start with 1/3 cup/80 ml, then add more as kneaded needed)

4 cups/17 ounces all purpose flour 

1 teaspoon salt (I used kosher)

1/3 cup/80 ml olive oil

1 teaspoon active dry yeast

I used my stand mixer for this one, and placed all of the berry puree, most of the water, the flour, salt, oil and yeast in the bowl.  After a few minutes of mixing with the paddle I added the rest of the water, and mixed until a slightly wet dough formed.  Please refer to my Pizza Primer for lots of hints and tips for making pizza, and colorful pizza dough, in your own kitchen, and know that if your dough hangs out in the fridge for a few days it's much more relaxed and pliable.

Cranberry, Chicken, Red Onion and Mozzarella on Berry Pizza Crust

1/2 portion of the Berry Pizza Dough (above)

1-2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 cup sliced mozzarella (on a log like above, about 2-3 inches worth)

1/2 cup chopped cranberries (partially thawed if frozen)

1/4 cup chopped red onion

1/2 cup chopped cooked chicken breast (optional)

salt and pepper to taste (I mean a pinch of each, as you're not going to taste the uncooked pizza, right?)

On the day you're ready for pizza, remove the dough from the fridge and place on the counter about 2 hours before you're planning to bake. About an hour before you're planning to eat, preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, and if you use a pizza stone it should be in the oven before preheating.  (If you don't use a pizza stone, a cookie sheet will do.  For now.)

On an oiled piece of parchment paper, stretch out dough into a pleasing shape.  Brush the crust with a light layer of olive oil.  Lay slices of mozzarella across the top, bearing in mind that they like to make a run for the borders once melted, so don't put them too close to the edge of your dough.  Scatter cranberries, onion, and chicken if you're using it over the cheese.  Add a pinch of salt and a couple of grinds of pepper across the crust.  Slide the pizza+parchment onto your baking stone and bake for 5-8 minutes.  Shimmy the pizza off the parchment paper, then continue baking for another 3-5 minutes until the cheese is browned and bubbly. Cool on a rack for a few minutes, then slice and serve.

This pizza is shared with the From The Farm Blog Hop, Strange But Good at Sprint2TheTable, the Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Tasty Tuesdays, the Wednesday Fresh Foods Link Up, What's Cookin' Wednesday, and What's In The Box at In Her Chucks.

In my kitchen, if you unplug it, you defrost it.