Thai Chicken Pizza
Why I Love This Recipe
This recipe is for California Pizza Kitchen's Thai Chicken Pizza, courtesy of 'Top Secret Restaurant Recipes' by Todd Wilbur.
Ingredients You'll Need
The Crust:
Commercial pizza dough or pizza dough mix
Peanut Sauce:
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce or marinade
2 tablespoons hoisin
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons minced onion
1 teaspoon minced gingerroot
Toppings:
1 boneless skinless chicken breast half
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
1 1/4 cups grated mozzarella
1 to 2 green onions
1/2 cup bean sprouts
1/2 carrot, julienned or grated (1/4 cup)
2 teaspoons minced cilantro
1 tablespoon chopped peanuts
Directions
Mix together the ingredients for the peanut sauce in a small bowl. Pour this mixture into a food processor or blender and blend for about 15 seconds or until the garlic, onion, and ginger are reduced to small particles. Pour this mixture into a small pan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Cook for 1 minute. Don't cook too long or the sauce will become lumpy. The peanut sauce should be darker now.
Slice the chicken into bite-size chunks.
Pour 1/3 of the peanut sauce over the chicken in a sealed container in the refrigerator and marinate for at least 2 hours. I like to use a small resealable plastic bag for this. The chicken gets very well coated this way.
Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a small pan over medium/high heat.
Cook the marinated chicken for 3 to 4 minutes in the pan.
Roll out your pizza crust and place on a baking sheet or pizza pan. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.
Spread a thin coating of the remaining peanut sauce (the stuff you didn't marinate the chicken in) on the pizza crust. You may have sauce left over.
Sprinkle 1 cup of the grated mozzarella over the peanut sauce.
Slice the green onion lengthwise into thin strips (julienne), then cut across the strips, slicing the onion into 2-inch match-stick strips. Spread the onions over the cheese.
Arrange the chicken on the pizza.
Next go the sprouts and the carrots.
Sprinkle what's left of the mozzarella just over the center of the pizza.
Sprinkle the cilantro over the mozzarella, then the chopped nuts on top.
Bake the pizza for 10 to 12 minutes or until the crust turns light brown.
After removing the pizza from the oven, cut across it 4 times to make 8 slices.
