This is a compensated review by BlogHer and Kraft.
Every Friday night at our house brings great excitement for my boys. Pizza night ranges from standards, such as pepperoni and Hawaiian, to slightly more adventurous versions, such as Thai chicken or grilled shrimp and pesto. Southwestern or Mexican pizzas have crossed our pizza stone several times, but the flavor combination has never been quite right. We were missing a good kick of heat and a sauce that would stand up to the chicken, black beans, corn, red bell pepper and queso fresco cheese that we like to pile on top.
Philadelphia Cream Cheese recently introduced a new product, called Cooking Creme. It has the same flavor of cream cheese, but can be easily spooned and melted into a variety of dishes. While the Cooking Creme is available in a southwestern flavor, I prefer to add the flavors according my own palate, so I used the original flavor as a starting point. I heated a small amount of vegetable broth and melted the cooking creme into the broth to make a thinner sauce. Stirring in minced chipotle peppers, a small amount of adobo sauce and fresh lime juice gave the sauce that tangy kick we were craving. What did my boys think? They went back for thirds. I think that says it all.
Head over to Kraft’s Real Women of Philadelphia site to find more pizza recipes using Cooking Creme. While you’re over there, think about entering the contest for a chance to travel to Savannah, Georgia for a cook-off and win $25,000.
The recipe:
The sauce:
In a small saucepan set over medium heat, bring vegetable stock to a simmer. Remove from heat and stir in Philadelphia Cooking Creme (regular flavor) until it dissolved. Add chopped chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, fresh lime juice, and a pinch of salt.
The pizza:
Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Place pizza stone in oven and preheat for 15 minutes.
In a medium bowl, combine shredded chicken, olive oil, cumin and salt. Stir until chicken is coated.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out pizza dough until it is about 12 inches in diameter. Transfer the dough to a pizza peel covered with cornmeal. Spread chipotle sauce over the pizza dough. Sprinkle black beans, corn, red bell pepper and queso fresco cheese evenly over the sauce.
Slide the pizza onto the pizza stone and bake for 5 minutes. Sprinkle chicken over the pizza and bake until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before slicing. Garnish with cilantro. Serve. Drizzle with remaining chipotle sauce, if desired.
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Southwestern Chicken Pizza with Chipotle Cream Cheese Sauce
Sauce:
2 tbsp vegetable broth
10 oz. Philadelphia Cooking Creme, regular flavor
1 chipotle pepper, seeded and minced
1 tsp adobo sauce (from chipotle pepper can)
2 tsp fresh lime juice
Pinch of kosher salt
Pizza:
1 cooked chicken breast, shredded
1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 tsp ground cumin
Pinch of kosher salt
1 recipe of my homemade dough, or store-bought dough
1/2 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels, defrosted
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup crumbled queso fresco cheese
3 tbsp chopped cilantro
Sauce:
In a small saucepan set over medium heat, bring vegetable stock to a simmer. Remove from heat and stir in Philadelphia Cooking Creme until it dissolved. Add chopped chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, fresh lime juice, and a pinch of salt.
Pizza:
Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Place pizza stone in oven and preheat for 15 minutes.
In a medium bowl, combine shredded chicken, olive oil, cumin and salt. Stir until chicken is coated.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out pizza dough (link to dough recipe) until it is about 12 inches in diameter. Transfer the dough to a pizza peel covered with cornmeal. Spread 3/4 cup of the chipotle sauce over the pizza dough. Sprinkle black beans, corn, red bell pepper and queso fresco cheese evenly over the sauce.
Slide the pizza onto the pizza stone and bake for 5 minutes. Sprinkle chicken over the pizza and bake until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before slicing. Garnish with cilantro. Serve. Drizzle with remaining chipotle sauce, if desired.
Makes one 12-inch pizza.
RavieNomNoms says
That looks SO amazing! I love chipotle so much, love that smokey flavor…
claudia lamascolo says
Oh my goodness this is awesome pizza got to try this the boys will love it!
Vicki @ WITK says
This looks so tasty, I should start having pizza night! Love the use of chipotle cream cheese as sauce, looks perfect.
Kate says
I love pizza and that chipotle cream cheese sauce sounds heavenly! Definitely must give this a try!
Devi @ Diddles and Dumplings says
This sounds amazing!!
[email protected] says
Ooooh this sounds so crazy gooooood! That is one beautiful pizza. I want to make it now… I have everything, but queso fresco cheese… I’m gonna try it with some feta instead. 🙂
Katrina says
This pizza is so unique! I love what you did with the sauce. Yum!
Gwen~healthymamma says
Oh holy goodness! I am in love with this. Must make right this minute, o.k. maybe next week after I go grocery shopping.
Man, chipotle cream cheese pizza! YUM-ME!
Maris (In Good Taste) says
It is so nice that you have a traditional pizza night. Wish I was at your home for this one!
Parsley Sage says
Outstanding! Love the sauce. Cream cheese on pizza just sounds incredible 🙂
[email protected] says
I love Friday night as pizza night!! It was a tradition in our house until sports became the Friday night activity. Hopefully, it will return this summer though and when it does, this will be one of the first pizzas I will make!!
Love the idea of a more spreadable cream cheese so will definitely be on the lookout for this in my local market!
Belinda @zomppa says
I can see why this brings great excitement – it would for me, too!
yesim says
looks awesome!
Dmarie says
thanks for this. I have a tub of the stuff in the fridge now but wasn’t sure what to do with it!
Pretend Chef says
This pizza sounds incredible. I think this would be a hit in our household as well. Looks like a prize winning recipe!
Nichol says
YUM! I am head over heels in love with the Cooking Cream. I have two recipes on my blog using it. This looks absolutely amazing. My family would really enjoy this.
HeatherChristo says
gorgeous. you just inspired dinner tonight.
sippitysup says
You have such amazing creativity! GREG
Tracey says
Pizza is pretty much my favorite meal ever, especially when it’s homemade. Love this variation Dara!
Alison @ Ingredients, Inc. says
omg this is fabulous! Your site is so awesome!
Jessica @ How Sweet says
This sounds absolutely delicious right now!
Paula (Salad in a Jar) says
I’ll be on the look out for this creme. Sounds fabulous and so versatile. I have several recipes where I used to warm the cream cheese and add milk to make a sauce. This would be the perfect substitute.
Lora @cakeduchess says
Gorgeous pizza!I must make this soon. We do pizza night every Friday. MIL has been covering it the past month, but when she goes back to Italy…this is 1st one I will try:)
DessertForTwo says
Yum!
I tried to make mac ‘n cheese last night with chipotle, but I found the chunks didn’t dissolve and stain the whole mess orange like I wanted it to. Next time I will use this cooking cream! Thanks 🙂
Cookbook Queen says
This looks and sounds amazing!! Gorgeous photo….I WAY prefer white sauce pizza with chicken to traditional pizza, so this is perfect for me!!
srithasan says
Lovely Chicken Pizza which is healthy & nice meal.
Katrina says
That looks delicious! We have pizza (everyone makes their own) a lot on Fridays! I love to switch it up with different kinds like this!
Shelby says
I love this! The flavors are right up my alley….and I just bought some of that cooking creme to try out – I just haven’t decided exactly what to do with it yet! Thanks for the great pizza idea and the links!
Jenny Flake says
Delicious with a capital D!! Love it Dara!
Maria says
Great pizza toppings!
Amanda says
Love southwestern style chicken, what an excellent idea for pizza!
Elle says
Oh my gosh, this looks amazing! Definitely a nice change of pace.
Tracy says
My goodness this looks incredible! Definitely a pizza I need to try!
Robyn | Add a Pinch says
This looks so delicious, Dara. We love pizza night around here, too.
Katrina says
Dara—I just made this for dinner (with a few minor adaptations), but it was SO good! Thanks! (It was a little spicy for me, wish I would have only put in half an adobo pepper, but my husband likes things really spicy.) I used ground turkey breast and didn’t have queso, so I just used a mixture of cheddar and mozz.
Shaina says
Love seeing how you used the cooking creme as a pizza sauce component. Looks fantastic!
Ellen says
This was delicious! I used an 8 oz container or regular cream cheese with 1/4 c veggie broth and it melted perfectly. Also omitted the beans and added fresh spinach and red onion. Very tasty and a nice twist on pizza. The cream sauce was enough for me to make 3 medium size pizzas.
Dan says
Oh yum. That looks incredible.
Bonus: A bit of an advertising Fail:
immediately under the pizza with cream cheese sauce recipe was a weight-loss ad. Whoops!
Dara (Cookin' Canuck) says
Thanks for letting me know that, Dan. I’ll be emailing the ad network.
Serene says
We liked the plain flavor, but not the others, so I think starting with the plain was a good move on your part. 🙂 The pizza looks great.