Cooking Light with The Neelys: Chicken Alfredo Pizza

Pizza just isn't red sauce, cheese and pepperoni these days. Restaurants, delivery chains and creative home cooks are finding ways to add excitement to the pizza pie; covering a wide range from dessert varieties to classic dinners just like this Chicken Alfredo Pizza. Patrick and Gina Neely created a delicious looking Chicken Alfredo Pizza that I just couldn't resist. When ordering pizza out, it is my ultimate splurge. Being familiar with the way my brain works with food, you know that any time I find a favorite splurge I immediately start cookin' up ideas for ways to make it lean.

That's exactly what happened here. Stay home tonight and try out this healthy and inexpensive recipe for Chicken Alfredo Pizza. You'll love the taste and most importantly, you'll feel good about having something that is good for you too.

CHICKEN ALFREDO PIZZA
Serves 8

INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 pound BAKED and DICED boneless, skinless chicken breasts (thin sliced works best)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter"
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 cup FAT FREE half-and-half
• 1/4 cup KRAFT Reduced-Fat Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1 package Pillsbury pizza dough
• 2 cups baby spinach, well washed and drained
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 package KRAFT Fat Free shredded Mozzarella
• "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" Olive Oil Spray, for the crust

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place pizza dough on a pizza stone or pan, spreading out the dough and working into a pie shape. Bake for 8 minutes, then remove from oven and set aside.

Melt the ICBINB in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant. Add the flour and cook until light blonde in color.

Whisk in the fat free half-and-half, reduce the heat to low, and let simmer until thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in Parmesan and season lightly with salt and pepper, to taste.

Ladle the sauce to cover the bottom of the pizza.

 Evenly top with the baby spinach, grape tomatoes, grilled chicken and the mozzarella. 

Spray the edge of the crust with ICBINB olive oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bake the pizza for 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is thoroughly melted.

Remove from oven ... slice and serve.

RESULTS

NUTRITION FACTS: (Per serving; 1/8 of pizza)

BEFORE~ 348.8 calories / 19g fat / 25.7g carbohydrate / 18.8g protein / 1.1g fiber
AFTER~ 247.6 calories / 4.4g fat / 28.8g carbohydrate / 21.25g protein / 1.1g fiber
SAVES~ 101.2 calories and 14.6g fat

This was such a fun recipe to make! It  may look fancy, but is simple enough to involve the little helpers in your house. Kimber was excited to top off the pizza with spinach, chicken, tomatoes and cheese; the perfect job for her!

The nutritional savings came in the cheese and cream substitutions. The original recipe calls for heavy cream, which we easily replaced with fat free half-and-half (a frequent Cookin' Lean substitution). The shredded mozzarella comes in a fat free variety, so that was another big saving piece. I am sometimes a little afraid that the fat free cheese won't melt as nicely, but KRAFT'S fat free Mozzarella did beautifully! If you really want to, you can try using a whole-wheat pizza crust or flat bread, but that all depends on your personal preferences. For this recipe, I felt the changes we were making were enough to where keeping a regular pizza crust would be just fine.

Overall, you are going to love the look and taste of this pizza! And in case you were wondering, it is even great the second day!!

Try it out and let me know what you think! We want to hear about how it turned out for you, as well as any healthy or creative modifications YOU may have made to this recipe.

ENJOY!!

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