MENU DESCRIPTION: “Grilled Jamaican Jerk spiced chicken breast with our spicy sweet Caribbean sauce, mozzarella cheese, applewood smoked bacon, mild onions, roosted red & yellowpeppers and scallions.” This CPK creation is a top pick at the 162-unit chain, most likely because chefs slather on a delicious sweet and spicy Caribbean sauce where tomato sauce usually sits on traditional Italian-style pies. Making the sauce from scratch is the way to go for true clone rangers, but if you’d like a shortcut, find Tiger Sauce in your local market where the bottled hot sauces are sold, and use that. If you want another shortcut, rather than mixing your own jerk seasoning from scratch, use any jerk blend you can find in the store. I do recommend making the pizza dough from scratch rather than buying prepared dough, however. You’ll need to plan ahead on this part of the recipe so that the dough has a chance to slowly rise in your fridge overnight. I also recommend that you use a pizza stone to bake the two pizzas this recipes makes to re-create the baking results of CPK’s stone ovens.

MAKES 2 PIZZAS, 8 SLICES EACH

INGREDIENTS

PIZZA DOUGH:

• ¾ cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
• 1½ teaspoons yeast
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 1¾ cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

CARIBBEAN SAUCE:

• ½ cup light brown sugar
• ¼ cup water
• ¼ cup ketchup
• ¼ cup light corn syrup
• ¼ cup minced white onion
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ⅛ teaspoon dried thyme
• ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice

JERK SEASONING:

• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon ground paprika
• ½ teaspoon ground allspice

OTHER INGREDIENTS:

• 2 chicken breasts, pounded thin
• olive oil cooking spray
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 2 cups plus 4 tablespoons shredded mozzarella cheese
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon onion powder
• ⅛ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• pinch ground cinnamon
• ½ cup cooked thick bacon, crumbled (about 6 slices)
• ½ cup thinly sliced white onion
• 2 tablespoons chopped green onion (green part only)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Make the pizza dough by dissolving yeast and granulated sugar in ¾ cup warm water in a small bowl or glass measuring cup. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes or until it gets foamy on top.
2. Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a depression in the flour and pour the yeast mixture and oil into it. Stir the liquid gradually drawing more flour into it, until you can form the dough into a ball. Use your hands to knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 10 minutes, or until the texture of the dough is smooth. Coat dough with oil, cover it and let it sit in a warm spot for 1 to 2 hours or until it doubles in size. Punch down the dough, cover it again and let it sit overnight in your fridge.
3. You can also make the sauce a day ahead by combining all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Simmer over medium/low heat for 7 minutes. Puree cooled sauce in a blender for 10 seconds, then cover it and let it chill out in the fridge.
4. When it gets close to pizza time, remove the dough from the refrigerator. It needs to warm up for about 2 hours before you use it. Also, place a pizza stone in your oven and crank the temperature up to 500 degrees.
5. Combine all of the ingredients for the jerk seasoning. Cover chicken breasts and pound them to about ½-inch thick with a kitchen mallet. Spray chicken liberally with olive oil cooking spray (or rub with olive oil), then sprinkle on some seasoning. Grill chicken on a preheated grill for 3 to 4 minutes per side or until done. You can also saute chicken in a skillet on your stove for 4 to 5 minutes per side or until done. Cool and chop into ½-inch cubes.
6. Roast red bell peppers by setting them directly over a high flame on a gas stove. Turn the peppers as the skin chars black, then plunge them into ice water and remove the blackened skin. If you don’t have a gas stove, you can also roast the peppers on a baking sheet in a 450-degree preheated oven for 45 minutes or until skin is charred, then peel the skin off in cold water. Dice about 2 tablespoons of each pepper for each pizza. Seal the rest of the roasted pepper and refrigerate. It will keep for about two days.
7. Assemble each pizza by dividing the dough in half and rolling one half into a 10-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Place the dough onto a pizza pan or a pizza peel that will be used to slide the dough onto the hot pizza stone. Be sure to flour the pan or pizza peel liberally with flour so that the assembled pizza will slide off easily.
8. Spray the pizza dough with a generous amount of olive oil spray. Spoon 3 to 4 tablespoons of sauce onto the dough, followed by I cup of shredded mozzarella. Sprinkle I cup of diced chicken on next, followed by ¼ cup of the cooked bacon. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of diced roasted red bell pepper and 2 tablespoons of diced roasted yellow bell pepper on the pizza. Sprinkle ¼ cup of thinly sliced onion on next, followed by just a couple tablespoons of additional mozzarella. Slide the pizza onto the pizza stone and bake for 9 to 10 minutes or until the cheese and crust begins to brown. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon chopped green onion.
9. Slice pizza into 8 pieces and serve. Repeat for remaining pizza.