Pizza Night Fridays: BBQ Chicken & Shredded Asparagus Pita Pizzas

It has always been one of my dreams to have a Friday night pizza tradition. I know what you are thinking, Pizza every Friday? Yes. But don't worry, my pizzas are not your typical greasy, cheese-filled pies. As I try to do with all of my recipes, they are filled with wholesome, delicious and simple ingredients.

There is nothing better than homemade pizza. You get to choose the toppings, how much cheese, and what type of crust you'd like. My favorite is a caramelized onion, mozzarella cheese, and apple pizza on a beer-battered crust. Yum. I promise to give you that recipe next time I make it.... maybe next Friday? For today's menu, we will be having mini pita pizzas. These are the best. They are super simple and take less than 30 minutes to make. Plus, if you have picky eaters you can have them each put whatever toppings they would like on their pita. Luckily we all enjoy BBQ chicken, so this was an easy one. For this pizza, we also used left-over BBQ chicken. However, feel free to cook up a little chicken in a pan, or use a few pieces of a rotisserie chicken if you enjoy those.

BBQ Chicken and shredded Asparagus Pita Pizza

~ serves 4~

Ingredients: 

~ 4 whole wheat pitas 

~ 4 pieces of (raw) asparagus, shredded (see below)

~ 1 sm chicken breast, cooked and shredded

~ 4 oz fresh mozzarella cheese

~ olive oil, rosemary, thyme, basil 

~ BBQ sauce 

Pita bread with olive oil and dried Italian spices

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place pita bread on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle each with olive oil, and any dried spices you would like. I prefer rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil and garlic.

Shredded Asparagus

Using a pealer, peal the asparagus in long strips. If the asparagus gets too small to peal, you can use a knife and continue slicing the asparagus into thin pieces. If using a pealer, the pieces should almost look like ribbon (they will be curly too).

Toppings: shredded chicken & asparagus, mozzarella cheese and BBQ sauce

Place the shredded chicken, asparagus and mozzarella cheese on each pita. You can also sprinkle with a little bit of BBQ sauce. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the asparagus is tender.

Personal pita pizzas are perfect for Pizza Night Fridays!

Serve with a little bit of BBQ sauce, and enjoy! See how easy that was?!

Food for thought:
~ Homemade pizza vs. restaurant/store-bought: There are many, many benefits of making homemade pizza. As I have said many times, the best benefit is that YOU are in charge of what goes into the foods you are consuming. If you like pizza, but are afraid of how much cheese and oil companies use, you can put exactly what you would like on your pizza, watching how much of each topping is used. Also, if you are like me and love gourmet pizza, you can enjoy that caramelized onion & goat cheese pizza without paying a fortune. The best part about making homemade pizza (or anything homemade) is that you also get to spend time with your loved ones. Instead of sitting at an overcrowded restaurant and trying to have a conversation, you get to enjoy the company of the ones you love the most, at home, while making incredibly delectable food.