Buffalo Chicken Dalek Pizza

Warning: If you haven't watched the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special, there will be spoilers.

Weeee, the 50th anniversary special was so cool!!! Although I will never not be mad that Christopher Eccleston didn't agree to be in it. I mean, David Tennant does a great wounded Doctor, but there was definitely a step missing between John Hurt and David Tennant. The Doctor, hardened by his loss. I think that would have been a truly beautiful moment. Plus, I would have loved to see him sass Matt. I think that Nine and Ten would have totally ganged up on Eleven. But Matt and David were brilliant together, and I wish this was something they could do more often.

Although I thought how they worked Billie Piper into the storyline was very deft and unexpected. I thought it was very well done, and I totally believe the Moment was actually Rose. If you think back to Bad Wolf, Rose controlled all of time and space for a single moment and she did that to save the Doctor. Well, there's an awful lot someone can do when they control all of time and space, and of course she would do what she could to help the Doctor. Every Doctor. So I don't think that the Moment chose Rose's form, I think that the Bad Wolf is the Moment. And there were no Moffat-sized plotholes, which made me happy. *cough* Angels Take Manhattan *cough.* It actually helped explain some of what happened in The End of Time, so yay!

My one problem: the vortex manipulator. Captain Jack still had it in Miracle Day. They could have had Jack pass it along to Kate or Clara with a grin and a wink, and then John Barrowman would have been a part of the special. No plothole, happy John Barrowman, happy fangirls.

And, okay, but I think that Clara should have had less of a role in it. Because she's such a new companion, and the only one really to be a part of it (Rose wasn't really Rose, you know?), it was almost not fair to past companions. And it's not like there were a lot of them they could conceivably work into the episode. It just feels like they forget about the previous companions a lot, and it should have been all or none, you know? But that's just a personal gripe; otherwise I loved it.

To celebrate, I put together a full Whovian menu. Bowtie pasta salad, fish fingers and custard, last minute jammie dodgers (aka, leftover sugar cookie dough I had in the fridge and blackberry jam), and the star of the show, dalek pizza. Buffalo chicken dalek pizza, to be exact. It was a huge hit, and super easy to make. I had some leftover pasta sauce, so I mixed it with some buffalo sauce. Then I made some shredded chicken and tossed it in more buffalo sauce. Then I assembled it to look like a dalek.

Just roll out the dough in a vaguely dalek-y shape (think hydrant) and use a sharp knife to clean up the edges. Sauce it, add the chicken, some red onions, and the mozzarella cheese. Then add the details. I used green peppers, golden tomatoes, diced celery, and cheddar cheese. Then use the dough you trimmed off to make the lights and eye stalk. Then just pop it in the oven, 450 degrees for about 15 minutes. That's it, kiddies: simple, easy, and effective.

This is the second one I made, since there was enough dough for 2. I think this one actually came out a little better, since I knew what I was doing.

There wasn't a scrap of this pizza left by the time we sat down to watch the special. Cookies were leftover, the salad, and the fish fingers, but this was gobbled up in no time. The spicy buffalo tomato sauce really makes it. I used extra mild buffalo sauce, so I got to play with the spice, adding some smoky chipotle to just get that extra, deeper layer of flavor. Then I added a little bit of cilantro, because I like it and it works really well with those spicier flavors. In short, it's some good pizza. You will want to EXTERMINATE it with your mouth.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients
6 tbsp prepared tomato sauce
2 tbsp. buffalo sauce
1/2 tbsp. chipotle hot sauce (optional)
1/2 tsp. cilantro paste
Pizza dough
Shredded chicken, tossed with more buffalo sauce (I used this method)
About 1/2 a small red onion, sliced thin
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Optional: bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, diced celery, cheddar cheese

Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Mix together the tomato sauce, buffalo sauce, hot sauce, and cilantro paste. Roll out the pizza dough on a pizza stone or cookie sheet (I didn't have to grease it, but you may want to), to your desired thickness. Spread your desired amount of sauce on top, then sprinkle with the shredded buffalo chicken and red onion. Top with the mozzarella cheese and any other desired toppings. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the edges start to turn golden brown, and the cheese is bubbly. Serve hot.

Recipe by Kim