Thai Chicken Pizza

What American doesn’t love pizza?  I think it’s funny that whenever my mom visits  my husband and I, and we ask her what she wants to eat for dinner, she responds by saying let’s order pizza!  She loves pizza.  I think she could eat it every day and not get tired of it.  I love pizza too, but over the years my taste has changed.  When I was young I used to love Pizza Hut's deep dish pizza.  When my husband and I were dating we would order Papa John’s deep dish or Domino’s thin crust pizza.  And since we moved to Whitmore Lake we’ve found there aren’t many pizza chains that are nearby.   There’s a new, family owned pizza joint (Mickey’s Pizza) that has become our favorite, but many nights we decide to make our own pizza.

 

Making pizza at home is quite simple and I think you’ll prefer the taste.  Not only can you customize it to your liking (heavy sauce, light cheese, extra pepperoni, etc.) but you can use fresh ingredients as well.  You can take the easy route and buy pre-made dough (brands such as Boboli, etc) or you can make your own from scratch.  Making your own pizza dough from scratch is not hard at all.  If you’re making pizza during the week, after you get home from work, you will most likely find that you want to eat ASAP and not wait 30 minutes or more for the dough to rise.  I always find myself in this situation so instead I buy a dough mix (Martha White’s Deep Pan Pizza Crust Mix) and simply add water and oil.  Only 5 minutes!

I guarantee if you try making your own pizza, you’ll love it.  And it only takes approximately 10 minutes to bake.  That’s faster than frozen pizzas you can buy at the store!  Once you master making your own pizzas you’ll want to experiment with toppings.  That’s how the recipe below originated.  While my husband and I were in England, this past Fall, I ordered chicken Thai pizza for dinner one night.  I had never heard of such a pizza, but knew from the toppings I would love it.  This is definitely not your traditional pizza.  It’s made with a Thai peanut sauce and topped with chicken, shredded carrots, snow peas, bean sprouts, roasted peanuts and cilantro.  I was mesmerized after I took my first bite.  It was soooo good. 

I knew I wanted to make this when we returned home and the recipe below is just that.  I’ve made some modifications to the original recipe, but I also noticed that the reviewers said it tastes very similar to California Pizza Kitchen’s Thai Chicken Pizza.

If you’re like me, there’s a few ingredients below that you may not have readily available at home.  For instance, oyster sauce.  You can find oyster sauce and hoisin sauce in the Asian section at your local grocery store.  Kikkoman is a widely known brand for soy sauce and I discovered that they also make oyster sauce.  You’ll also see that fresh ginger is used in making this sauce.  If you’ve never worked with fresh ginger, don’t let it scare you.  You can find ginger root sold in the produce department.  To cook with it simply break off one of the knubs, use a spoon or vegetable peeler to remove the skin, and mince it.   I found this short video tutorial quite helpful.  Also, the smell of fresh ginger is like no other.  It’s absolutely refreshing!  And if you cut too much, make sure to put the rest down your garbage disposal so that its exhilarating aroma can take care of any lingering smells. 

Fresh ginger

Watch out!  There's a new pizza sauce in town!

When the pizza finished baking, I could barely wait to dig in.  I took my first bite and WOW, it was amazing!  Just like the pizza I had in England!  The peanut sauce is absolutely addictive.   Not only do you have a wonderful sauce that is new to your palette, but you also have the crunch of snow peas and beans sprouts exploding like fireworks in your mouth.  This pizza was out of this world!  One of my favorite pizzas is barbeque chicken pizza, but I have to say that this is my new, all time favorite pizza.  And what I love about this pizza is that it’s so unique.  I’m already planning to make it and serve small slices as an appetizer at my next party.  Try this pizza, you will not be disappointed!

Thai Chicken Pizza
Adapted from recipe# 62778 by Kimke, food.com
Yields: 2 medium pizzas
Prep time: 25 mins.
Total Time: 40 mins

Ingredients: 

Thai Peanut Sauce

• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons minced ginger
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon chili sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 2 tablespoons water

Thai Chicken

• 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (approximately 10-10.5 oz.), cut into 1/2 inch cubes  

Pizza Toppings

• 2 pizza dough, buy pre-made or a package mix (such as Martha Whites Deep Pan Pizza Crust Mix)
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 4 scallions, sliced diagonally
• 1/2 cup white bean sprouts
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup snow peas
• 4 tablespoons roasted peanuts, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped 

Directions:

1. If using dough mix (vs. pre-made pizza crust), follow instructions on the package to assemble dough.  Cover and set aside in a warm place such as the microwave. 
2. In a small pan over medium heat combine all sauce ingredients.  Stir and bring to a boil.  Reduce to low heat and simmer for 2 minutes.  Set sauce aside.
3. Trim ends off snow peas and cut pods in half.  In a small pot or skillet, add 1 tablespoon water and steam the snow peas over medium heat.  Remove when peas are crisp/tender and water has evaporated (approximately 2-3 minutes).
4. Pre-heat oven to 450˚F.
5. In a small skillet heat 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil over medium heat.  Add chicken pieces and cook until no longer pink inside (approximately 5-6 minutes total). 
6. Remove chicken and place in a medium bowl.  Add 1/4 cup sauce; stir until all pieces are evenly coated.  Set aside.
7. Lightly drizzle olive oil over 2 small to medium sized baking sheets (round or rectangular); use a cooking brush to spread evenly. Press and shape dough into each pan.
8.  Bake dough for 3 to 4 minutes; just long enough for the dough to slightly harden (this will ensure no soggy pizza!). Remove and begin to assemble the pizzas.
9. With the remaining sauce, divide between each pizza; spread evenly over the dough with the back of a spoon.   
10. Top each with pizza with 3/4 cup cheese.  Add and evenly distribute the chicken pieces, green onions, shredded carrots, and snow peas.
11. Sprinkle the remaining cheese (1/2 cup) over each pizza and their toppings.  Sprinkle the chopped peanuts, evenly, over the pizzas. 
12. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the cheese begins to bubble. 
13. Remove from the oven and top with bean sprouts and cilantro.
14. Slice and serve!