It ain’t perty, but it sure is gud!

I find that Rachael Ray recipes are hit-or-miss for me. Sometimes they are just too crazy, too spicy, too many ingredients. But I will say, I love the 365: No Repeats cookbook. It has tons of great recipes, and some of them don’t even make me completely insane (or breathe fire).

This one I’ve cooked several times, and I think I’ve finally got my tweaks down. I confess that I do not garnish, because garnish = extra groceries = money. But I’m sure the suggested herbs and scallions would make this pretty. I don’t think it could taste any better, though!

Her recipe calls for ground chicken, which is what I have always used in the past. Since I already had frozen chicken cutlets on hand, however, I decided to make do with those and LOVED the result. I thought the topping was less heavy and I just enjoy the taste more than the ground chicken. I think any meat could probably be substituted, though.

“Rach” calls this 4 servings, which I think is laughable! It easily feeds 6 hungry adults with a side vegetable or salad.

BBQ Sloppy Chicken Pan Pizza
Adapted from Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats

2 boxes corn muffin mix (8.5 ounces each)
2 eggs
4 T unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup frozen corn kernels
extra virgin olive oil for the pan

TOPPING
1 T olive oil
1 lb. chicken (I boiled frozen chicken breast cutlets and cut them into small pieces)
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, diced
salt and pepper
1 T chili powder
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. hot sauce
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 cup tomato sauce
3 T brown sugar
2 c. shredded Cheddar cheese
[optional: 3 chopped scallions and 2-3 T fresh chopped parsley or cilantro for garnish]

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

In a large bowl, mix the corn muffin mixes, eggs, milk, melted butter, and corn kernels. Drizzle a little olive oil into a very large nonstick skillet and wipe it around and up the sides with a paper towel. Pour the batter in the skillet and bake at 400 for about 20 minutes or until it is well set and brown on top.

In another skillet over medium-high heat, add 1 T olive oil, chicken, garlic, onion, and red pepper. (If the chicken is uncooked, cook it first before adding veggies.) Season with salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, and hot sauce. Cook for about 5 minutes or until veggies are tender to your liking. Add Wocestershire sauce, tomato sauce, and brown sugar; stir and reduce heat to low. Let simmer about 10 minutes or until your cornbread is done.

Pour the chicken mixture over the cooked cornbread (leaving it in the skillet) and sprinkle with cheese. Return to oven for another 5 minutes or until cheese is all melted. Top with garnishes if you wish.

Mr. V declared this very tasty and I agree!

This post is linked to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam and Saturdays with Rachael Ray at Taste and Tell.