So, this was apparently good. Really Good. (To be honest, the only evidence I have that it was really good is the testimony of my husband and boys and the fact that there was a pathetic amount of leftovers left for me.)

Have you ever had Schinkels’ BBQ Chicken Pizza? Well, we love it here. It has saved many a rushed, everyone worked until 6:00 night in our home. Well, I was craving that taste of our chicken pizza, but thought maybe we had had that a few too many times in the past month. And I knew I had to make a meal ahead for Monday, so I needed something that could be just cooked from a programmed oven. 

So, I made something up.

I do that quite often with leftovers, but not so much for specific cravings.

This time, I took my usual pasta sauce (Borelli Marinara) and mixed it 50-50 with a smokey BBQ sauce Greg had in the fridge. This time I think it was Cattleboyz, but who knows what it will be next time.

Then, I took some pasta – just some Rotini I had in the pantry and cooked those up to al denté, not too soft, because I knew from experience that they soften up further in the baking stage.

So, you may not realize this, but our BBQ Chicken Pizza is actually quite easy to make at home. All we do is cook up some chicken breast, mix it with a secret smokey BBQ sauce, and layer that on the pizza with fried Schinkel’s Legacy Bacon and Spanish onions. (and top with Galati mozzarella, of course.)

For my casserole, I opted for boneless chicken thighs – mainly because I like them better than breasts – usually juicier and more flavour. I chopped up some bacon and onions, and cooked them all together, allowing the chicken,  bacon grease, and onion juices to all mix together as they cooked. Then I added that Cattleboyz BBQ sauce, just enough to coat the meat and let that simmer together for a few minutes.

I have to admit, it’s possible that not all that ended up on my pizza casserole. It was getting to that 4:00 snack time, you know.

anyway, I digress.

I did layer all that deliciousness over top of my noodles, and then pulled out yet another secret weapon in my arsenal of Yummm.

Tutto Caramelized Onion Cheddar

Oh, my, goodness. If you haven’t tried this cheese yet, you might as well add it to your next Schinkels’ grocery list. It’s amazing. As a nibbler, as a compliment to charcuterie, or as a melter on any casserole, pizza or even raclette grilling adventure.

So, I shredded it over top of my creation. Yes, some of that also did not make it into dinner.

And that was it. I threw it in the fridge, because it was destined to be a dinner for Monday, when we were all working, and I had an early evening meeting and I could just set it up in the oven to bake at 350F for 40 minutes on a timer.

It was a good plan, and I was looking forward to a delicious dinner most of Monday. Unfortunately, I neglected to let the guys know that I wanted them to save me some for after my meeting. You would think after all these years, I would know that some things actually do need to be stated. Apparently, they all kind of realized that I needed some dinner right about the time they had all helped themselves to seconds. When I arrived home at 8:00, I did see that they saved about 5 noodles and a little fleck of chicken. My two bites did taste good, but it certainly wasn’t what I had hoped for.

Well, it’s the thought that counts.