Chicken Alfredo Pizza

Valentine's Day. The tradition continues: Jayden's cards, Chloe's cookies (this year: macarons — MACARONS, the French cookie that professional pastry chefs struggle with, made by an eleven-year-old with a KitchenAid named Ruby and the confidence of a person who has never met a recipe she couldn't conquer). The macarons were... actually perfect. Smooth tops, ruffled feet, the proper texture. I can't make macarons. I've never attempted macarons. My daughter is making food I can't make. The student has so thoroughly surpassed the teacher that the teacher is considering enrolling in the student's class.

Terrence sent a Valentine to Chloe again (annual now — the tradition of sending love to a child who isn't his by blood but is his by choice). This year's card: "To the future restaurateur. Don't forget where you started. Love, T." Don't forget where you started. The kitchen. The recipe box. The table. The stool she stood on at four to watch me cook. The beginning that leads to every restaurant she'll ever open. Don't forget. She won't. The line remembers. The line always remembers.

Kevin and Donna. He called with news: they're getting serious. SERIOUS-serious. He's thinking about... a ring. A RING. The Mitchell man who survived one marriage and one divorce is thinking about doing it again. Not because he's foolish. Because Donna makes him calm and calm is what Kevin Mitchell has been searching for his entire adult life and when you find the thing you've been searching for, you hold it. You put a ring on it. You choose. Kevin is choosing. Again. Differently. Better. The pattern breaking in a new direction: toward peace instead of away from pain.

Elijah is two and three-quarters (almost three). His vocabulary is: exploding. He speaks in full sentences now: "Nana, I want orange juice." "Mama, Blaze is sleeping on my fire truck." "Da, come back soon." Each sentence is a small essay in the priorities of a toddler's life: food, cat, father. The priorities are clear. The priorities are Mitchell. The boy has his grandmother's eyes and his father's music taste (Terrence sends him playlists — gospel, R&B, the sounds that Elijah dances to in the living room while Jayden provides fire truck accompaniment and Blaze watches from the highest available surface).

I made heart-shaped pizza. Year five. Pink dough, pepperoni hearts. The tradition that started as a pandemic Valentine's has become the annual Valentine's dinner. Jayden ate the pepperoni. Chloe ate the pizza and critiqued the dough ("hydration's better this year" — the annual dough review). Elijah ate the cheese and said: "Mo heart." More heart. The request for more heart-shaped pizza is also, accidentally, a request for more love. More heart. The toddler is accidentally profound. The profundity is accidental and genuine and that's the most Mitchell combination possible.

Five years ago I made heart-shaped pizza because the world had shut down and we needed something to celebrate, and now “Mo heart” is something a two-and-three-quarters-year-old says with the full authority of someone who understands what matters. This Chicken Alfredo Pizza is the version I keep coming back to — the creamy white sauce feels like a departure from the expected red, which is exactly right for a Valentine’s that had macarons with perfect feet and a ring being considered and peace being chosen. It’s rich enough to feel like a celebration, easy enough that there’s room left to just be in the room with the people you made the tradition for.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 22 min | Total Time: 37 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 lb refrigerated or homemade pizza dough
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded or diced
2 cups shredded whole-milk mozzarella cheese
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Place a pizza stone or large baking sheet in the oven and preheat to 425°F. Let the dough rest at room temperature for 15 minutes if refrigerated — this makes it easier to shape.
Make the Alfredo sauce. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook 60 seconds until fragrant but not browned. Pour in heavy cream and bring to a gentle simmer. Stir in Parmesan, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Cook 3—4 minutes, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
Shape the dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll or stretch the dough into a 12-inch round (or a heart shape — stretch the top into two rounded lobes and pull the bottom into a point). Transfer to a sheet of parchment paper. Brush the outer 1-inch border with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil.
Assemble. Spread the Alfredo sauce evenly over the dough, leaving the oiled border clear. Distribute the shredded chicken evenly across the sauce. Top with mozzarella and an additional sprinkle of Parmesan. Add red pepper flakes if using.
Bake. Slide the pizza (on parchment) onto the preheated stone or baking sheet. Bake 18—22 minutes until the crust is deep golden at the edges and the cheese is bubbling and spotted brown in places.
Rest and garnish. Let the pizza rest 3—5 minutes before slicing — the Alfredo sets up and the cheese won’t slide. Scatter fresh parsley over the top and serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Chicken Alfredo Pizza — The Heart-Shaped Tradition That Started a Revolution