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Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Pizza : Two Ways

You know those times when you want to try something new for dinner, but you are unsure if the rest of your family will be as excited about a new food?  I have those days often and so I find myself creating a plan B if everything goes badly or compromising like I did tonight.  I knew a Thai Chicken Pizza would be tasty, but I was afraid the kids would shy away from the heat that I wanted it to have.  So, I decided to create pizza two ways.  Their side was a fresh mozzarella and ham pizza and our side was Thai Chicken with a spicy peanut sauce.  Both sides were equally delicious...and a hit with everybody. The kids tried the Thai Chicken side and said they liked it followed up with requests for milk refills!
This is also a great way to get rid of leftover bits in the refrigerator...I had two slices of ham leftover from breakfast, a container of fresh mozzarella balls, a few carrots from a veggie tray, and cilantro from a batch of guacamole.
Pizza : Two Ways

Pizza Dough
1 t active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
1 T honey
1 T olive oil
1/2 t salt
2 cups flour
Combine water and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, let stand 5-10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and turn mixer on low.  Continue mixing until all flour is incorporated.  Dough should be firm and not sticky, add a little flour if needed.  Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.

Peanut Sauce
1 clove garlic
1 T fresh ginger
2 T soy sauce
1 1/2 t sesame oil
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 t honey
1 T chipotle adobo sauce or 1 T sweet chili sauce
Combine everything in a small food processor bowl and process until smooth.

12 oz. fresh mozzarella
2 grilled chicken breasts, thinly sliced
1 cup shredded carrot
1 cup cilantro
1/4 c chopped peanuts

Heat oven to 500 degrees.  Spread a little cornmeal onto a half sheet pan and roll dough out to the size of the pan.  Place dough in pan and spread half with peanut sauce and the other half with your favorite jarred pizza sauce.  Next top regular pizza side with toppings of your choice.  Finish by topping entire pizza with thin slices of fresh mozzarella and baking until cheese is melted.

Finish Thai Pizza side with grilled chicken, shredded carrot, chopped cilantro, chopped peanuts, and drizzle with additional peanut sauce.  Enjoy!