Chicken & Basil Cazones

I have to start by saying that my 3 year old is the 2nd pickiest eater in my house (the #1 spot belongs to my husband). I was nervous about making this dish because she always picks things out and says, "What's this?!" and proceeds to pick through to see if there is anything she thinks she might be able to tolerate.

To my complete surprise, the only thing she picked at was the pizza dough! Huh?! She did not give a second thought to all the chopped up fresh basil! I was shocked and very pleased to watch her eat the chicken mixed with the basil & cheese.

This was a very easy and fairly quick meal to prepare. It comes from my favorite place for recipes, Cooking Light Magazine.

I have never used ground chicken in any dish. The recipe calls for it but it can be easily replaced with ground sirloin, if you like. We were all very happy with this recipe using the ground chicken.

Ingredients:

Cooking Spray

2 garlic cloves, minced (I love garlic so I used at least 4)

1 lb ground chicken breast

3/4 cup prepared pizza sauce (any you like, I used Boboli)

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (this I left out just because of how picky my 3 year old can be)

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1 (13.8-ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough (I used Pillsbury)

1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 425*

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add garlic & chicken to pan; saute 5 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink, stirring to crumble. Stir in pizza sauce & pepper. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in basil. Let stand 10 minutes.

Unroll dough onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; cut dough into quarters. Pat each portion into an 8x6-inch rectangle. Divide chicken mixture evenly among rectangles; top each serving with 2 tablespoons cheese. Working with one rectangle at a time, fold dough in half over filling, pinching edges to seal. Repeat procedure with remaining rectangles.

Bake at 425* for 12 minutes or until golden.

Calories: 459 Fat: 7.1g Protein: 39.1g Fiber: 3g

I served this with a Caesar salad and more warm pizza sauce on the side in case anyone wanted extra for dipping! It went over very well so I will be making this one again! I love it when the whole family likes my meal!