What oblivious passion tastes like.

Take...a look... at THIS.

I must get better lighting in my kitchen...

THIS, my friends, is quite possibly the best pizza I've ever eaten, let alone made. It started with a chicken breast. One, measly little chicken breast that I picked up at the grocery store because Metro was having a promo... I took it home, slapped it on the counter and asked: "how can you feed two adults for dinner, little antibiotic-free, free-range chicken breast?" And the pizza was born.

I was so excited about this pizza that I didn't see the time go by. I went against my farniente rule of thumb. If you count the hour it took for the pizza dough to rise, this sucker had a gestation period of 2 hours. But I didn't care, nor did I notice. I loved every second of it. I was in the zone. The butternut zone. The butternut from my garden zone. The butternut that survived the frost zo.. Okay. That's enough. The joke's run itself out.

So, as I happily tinkered away in the kitchen, and Marc slowly died of hunger on the couch as he watched the Habs' season opener against the Leafs (not sure if it was the hunger or the frustration that caused him to eat one of my throw pillows), I came up with the following deliciousness. 

Thyme-scented butternut and mushroom pizza with pan-seared chicken and basil pesto

I like Tyler Florence's recipe for home made pizza dough (using all-purpose flour is fine - don't run out and get the 00 flour), but feel free to use whatever pizza dough you want.

Seriously... Look at this beautiful crust. Look!

Pizza toppings

Please note that most of these things can be prepared in advance, leaving only the assembly to be done before serving. Not bad, huh?

1. Pesto: in your food processor, whizz two large handfuls of fresh basil leaves, a large garlic clove, three matchbook-sized pieces of parmesan and enough olive oil to make a loose paste. Season with salt and set aside.

2. Mushrooms: roughly chop any mushrooms of your choice and sauté in butter. When cooked, season with salt and pepper, take off the heat and set aside.

3. Chicken: season a chicken breast on both sides with salt and pepper. Cook in a frying pan over medium-low heat until done. Take off the heat, let rest for five minutes, then cut into half-inch cubes. Set aside.

4. Butternut squash: cut about half a butternut into half-inch cubes (roughly two to three cups), and roughly chop one medium-large yellow or white onion. Bring a frying pan to medium heat, throw in a good nub of butter and half a teaspoon of olive oil (to prevent the butter from burning), and when the pan is good and hot, throw in the onion. When it starts to turn translucent, throw in the chopped butternut and toss it around. When the squash is half-cooked, throw in a splash of white wine and let it evaporate completely. Add the leaves from a good handful of thyme stalks (approx. 10-15), cook until the butternut is soft but still toothsome, season with salt and pepper and set aside, off the heat.

Assembly

Roll out your dough and cover it with a thin coat of olive oil (I usually just put about a teaspoon in the palm of my hand and apply it to the dough like suntan lotion - awwww yeah!)

Spread the pesto onto the dough next. Then the butternut squash and onions. Then the chicken, and finally, the mushrooms. Top everything with a good amount of grated fresh parmesan and bake at 475F for about 12 to 15 minutes until the crust is golden brown.

Once it's out of the oven, drizzle the pizza with a fine thread of olive oil before serving.

Enjoy!