Cooking Through Fiction: The Nixie's Song — Nick's Buffalo Chicken Pizza

I don’t like change (unless it involves the seasons). I’m a creature of habit. I’ll even admit that I don’t like change even when it’s for the better. I eventually adapt to the new situation or habit, but at first, I resist. I grumble. I whine.

“Nothing endures but change.” Heraclitis

Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles, created by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, follows a new set of characters as they find out the faerie world is closer than they imagine. The story opens with Nick reluctantly giving up his room to his new stepsister. Nick, like me, does not like change. He likes his room. He likes being alone to build his model ships, and he likes his life. Now he’ll have to share a room with his older brother, he’ll have to accept his new stepsister and her weird affinity for faeries and unicorns, and he’ll have to accept that his life will never be the same.

When change happens, I often need comforting. I find comfort in different ways. Sometimes I strike off on a hike through the woods. Sometimes I shut myself up in my room and write. Other times, I bake. Like most people, certain foods bring comfort. There are even entire cookbooks devoted to comfort foods. I like southern food and sweets (healthy, I know).

What foods bring you comfort?

For Nick, pizza reminded him of his old life. So, Nick, this slice is for you!

“After Nick and Julian’s mom died and before their dad decided he needed to impress Charlene with her wacko daughter, lunch had been cold slices of leftover pizza from the night before or, on at least one occasion, a piece of apple pie with cheese melted on it.” (Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, The Nixie’s Song (Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles #1) [New York: Simon and Schuster, 2007], 9)

Nick’s Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Ingredients

12 oz of pizza dough

1 c buffalo wing sauce

2 c shredded cooked chicken

1 c shredded Cheddar cheese
½ c shredded Mozzarella cheese

½ c shredded Monterey Jack cheese

How to Make

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Then coat a baking sheet with cooking spray or grease with olive oil.
2. Form pizza dough into a rough circle on baking sheet. Bake for 8 minutes.
3. While the pizza crust bakes, add buffalo wing sauce and shredded chicken to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, 3 to 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
4. Evenly spread the buffalo chicken over the baked pizza crust. Scatter the cheeses on top. Bake for another 10 minutes or until crust and cheese reach desired doneness.

Read my review of The Nixie's Song on Goodreads.