Thai Chicken Pizza

Yesterday was the first day since my surgery that I did not take any painkillers. This meant I was a little uncomfortable but it was worth it to have the energy to take my kids to the park. It was a gorgeous day and they had a great time.

Sharing seemed to be the theme of the afternoon. Here, Nathan and Hannah attempt to share a "piano."

It was pretty cool, actually, it played the actual C major scale and everything. Anyway, Hannah did not want to share with her brother. Here she pushes him away.

He attempted to come back and I admonished her to share. She actually turned around and said "No! I don't want to share!" as I took this picture. It was hilarious. She always takes me by surprise when she speaks in sentences like that.

In contrast, Nathan brought his toy car "The King" to the park. I was so proud of him as he shared it with another little boy. They both nicely took turns driving the King down this wall. Once, after Nathan gave the King to his little friend for a turn, the other boy said, "You're a nice person!"

As we left the park, I thanked Nathan for sharing his toy. "It's fun to share the King!" he responded. Aww, 100 episodes of Sesame Street couldn't have taught him what he learned yesterday, and I am so happy I was there to see it.

Sharing makes me think of this recipe, as it is one of the first meals we made for company when we moved to Denver.

This is the perfect pizza to fix for company. It's not a quick weeknight meal by any means, as the toppings require some prep work, but it is still simple to put together and looks and tastes like a gourmet pizza when you're done! It really is delicious, all the flavors and textures compliment each other so nicely. It does have a bit of a kick to it, but my children are able to eat it just fine without complaining about the heat.

When we made this pizza for company, Hannah was only about 6 months old and sitting in my lap as we said the blessing on the food. Our pizza slices were already dished up on our plates.

As we all closed our eyes for the prayer, Hannah reached out and, you guessed it, pulled the plate and its contents onto my lap. Of course, the pizza landed upside down and the toppings spilled all over my pants. It was hilarious and something I should have totally seen coming.

So, share: a laugh, your favorite toy car, your lap, this pizza -  but maybe don't share your lap while you eat this pizza, unless you want all the toppings in your lap...

This recipe is one by Rachael Ray on foodnetwork.com. Click here and here to see other delicious Rachael Ray pizzas that I have blogged about.

printable recipe

Thai Chicken Pizza

1 pizza dough, any brand (or make your own, see recipe below)
1/2 cup duck sauce or plum sauce
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 package (2 cups) shredded provolone or Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 rounded tablespoonful peanut butter
2 teaspoons hot sauce
2 teaspoons grill seasoning (recommended: Montreal Steak Seasoning) eyeball it
4 chicken breast cutlets, 1/2 pound
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar or cider vinegar
1/4 seedless cucumber, peeled and cut into matchsticks
4 scallions, chopped
1 cup bean spouts, a couple of handfuls
Palm full cilantro leaves, chopped
1/4 cup chopped peanuts, 2 ounces

Pizza dough

3/4 cup warm water

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp yeast

Place dough ingredients in bread maker and run on dough-only setting.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Form pizza crust on pizza pan or cookie sheet. Top with duck or plum sauce - spread it around like you would pizza sauce. Sprinkle the pizza with some crushed red pepper flakes then top with cheese and peppers.

Bake until golden and bubbly, 15 to 17 minutes.

Combine vegetable oil, soy sauce and peanut butter with hot sauce and grill seasoning. Use the microwave to loosen up peanut butter if it is too cold to blend into sauce, 10 seconds ought to do it.

Add chicken and coat evenly with mixture. Let stand 10 minutes.

Preheat a grill pan (we used our cast-iron skillet) over medium-high heat. Grill chicken cutlets 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until firm and cooked through.

Slice chicken into very thin strips.

While chicken cooks, mix honey and vinegar and add the cucumber. Turn to coat evenly.

Top the hot, cooked pizza with chicken, scallions, sprouts and cilantro.

Drain cucumbers and scatter over the pizza. Garnish pizza with peanuts.

Cut into 8 wedges and serve. Enjoy!

This meal is featured in Menu Plan 13.  

Grilled Pepperoni and Red Onion Pizza

Due to an unavoidable encounter between an oral surgeon and her wisdom teeth, the Menu Mama will be out for a few days.  Not to worry though!  I (The Menu Papa?) will be posting recipes for the next few days.  To preface our first recipe many of you may have noticed that my contributions thus far to the blog have been in either A) coming up with some kind of funky pizza or B) cooking something on the grill.  Today we will combine two of my culinary passions: pizza and grilling.  Excited yet?  Here's what we're going for today:

Grilled Pepperoni and Red Onion Pizza

Serves 4

1 lb pizza dough

1 C Mozzarella cheese

1 C Cheddar cheese

3 T Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

4 oz Pepperoni

1/2 C Pizza sauce (We use Hunt's Basil, Garlic and Oregano tomato sauce)

1/4 Red Onion, sliced into rings then cut in half

Before you start cooking preheat your grill to high.  (Charcoal would taste better but makes it much harder to control the temps.)  Next, roll out some foil onto a cooking sheet.  Spray the foil down with non-stick cooking spray and roll your pizza dough out.  Allow the dough to warm up to room temperature.  (We want all of our ingredients to be as warm as possible so they cook quickly on the grill).

While the dough warms up grate about a cup of mozzarella, a cup of cheddar and a few tablespoons of Parmesan.  Mix together in a bowl and set aside.

 








Slice the onion and arrange your pepperoni on a plate.  Microwave for 30 seconds.  This will help it crisp up on the grill.












 


Take every thing out to the grill and arrange so it's convenient.  Part of pulling this pizza off is getting the toppings on, and the whole shebang back onto the grill as quickly as possible.


  





 
Once everything is arranged and ready, reduce the grill heat to medium low and slide the foil with the dough onto the grill.  Close the lid and let cook 3 - 5 minutes, turning if your grill (like mine) has hot spots to prevent any burnt areas.
 

While the dough is cooking spray down the baking sheet with cooking spray.  Once the dough is done use a spatula (or two) to flip the dough, cooked side up onto the baking sheet.













 


Close the grill and spread the tomato sauce, followed by the onions onto the cooked side of the dough.

Add cheese and pepperoni.  I like to put down a nice layer of cheese, then the pepperoni and sprinkle a little cheese on top of it all.







 



Gently slide the pizza back onto the grill.  It's not going to want to move once it's down so make sure that you get in the right spot the first time.  Otherwise things may get ugly! 

Close the grill and let cook another 3 - 5 minutes.  Keep an eye on those hot spots!  If you are concerned about the pizza burning on the bottom you can pull it off after 3 minutes and finish in a 425 degree oven for 5 minutes.

Once the pizza is done cut into slices and serve hot.

White Chicken Pizza

My husband is such a good cook. Really, it's not fair; he is super smart, a hard worker, a great dad, supportive husband, awesome in the kitchen, and has gorgeous blue eyes that make me melt. Oh yeah, and he cleans too! Sorry ladies, he's taken.

This pizza is one of his creations and I love it.

Yep, I'm pretty sure he's a keeper.

P.S. Aren't those strawberries gorgeous? For as nasty a winter as this is, we sure are getting some amazing fruit!

printable recipe

White Chicken Pizza

1 large chicken breast, marinated in Italian dressing
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 can artichoke hearts in water, quartered
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic
crushed red pepper
8 oz (2 cups) of Italian blend cheese, shredded (mozzarella, provolone, parmesan, romano, asiago, etc)

Pizza dough

3/4 cup warm water

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp yeast

Place dough ingredients in bread maker and run on dough-only setting.

Preheat oven to 425F. Roll out dough and place on a greased baking sheet. In a small skillet, sauté the garlic in the olive oil medium-low heat until the garlic starts to brown. Mash the garlic with a wooden spoon.

Spread the olive oil and garlic evenly over the pizza dough. Sprinkle lightly with salt.

Cut the chicken into slices against the grain and arrange over pizza. 

Top pizza with artichoke hearts, red onions, and sun-dried tomatoes and sprinkle with crushed red pepper.

Top with cheese. 

Bake at 425F for 12-15 minutes, until crust is golden and cheese is melted.

This recipe is featured in Menu Plan 11.

Pizza Bread

I used to love when my mom would make us pizza bread as a child so I was excited to find this recipe on Cooking During Stolen Moments. It turned out great! I served it with ranch and marinara sauce to dip it in and it was a very fun meal.

printable recipe

Pizza Bread

serves 6-8 (freeze a loaf or two for another day if you have a smaller family)

6-7 c. white flour
1 T. yeast
2 c. milk
1/2 c. water
1/4 c. butter or margarine
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. salt
2 t. Italian seasoning
3/4 c. pizza sauce
20 -25 slices pepperoni
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 200F then turn off to create a warm place for the dough to rise. In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 1/2 c. flour with 1 T. yeast and set aside.

Add milk, water, butter or margarine, sugar and salt to a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat until warm but not hot.

Pour into large bowl with the flour and yeast. Stir or beat until well combined. Slowly work in remaining flour and Italian seasoning. You can do this with a wooden spoon or the dough hook of your mixer. You will know you have enough flour when the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and sticks together.

Knead (by hand or with an electric mixer) until dough is smooth and elastic, about 8-10 minutes. Place in a large, lightly greased bowl, turn once to coat and cover with plastic wrap.

Let rise for 30-45 minutes in warmed oven, until dough is doubled in size.

Divide dough into 2 or 3 portions, depending on how big you want your loaves to be. I would recommend three loaves. I did only 2 and they were large enough that it was difficult to get bake them all the way through. Roll each ball of dough into a rectangle. Spread about 1/4 c. pizza sauce on each section of dough.

Sprinkle the pepperoni and cheeses on top of the pizza sauce.

Roll dough tightly, jelly-roll style, and pinch the seams shut.

Place, seam-side down, on lightly baked baking sheets.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes (longer if only 2 loaves) until browned on top and bottom.