Sunday, November 16, 2008

California Pizza Kitchen Thai Chicken Pizza

We made this for our cousin dinner last week and it was SO GOOD!!
Makes 2 9-inch pizzas
For Pizza Dough:
1t yeast
1/2 c. plus 1 T warm water
1 1/2 c bread flour or all purpose flour
2t sugar
1t salt
1T extra virgin olive oil plus 1t for coating

1. Dissolve the yeast in the water and set aside for 5-10 minutes.
2. place the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle and pour in the liquids (reserving the teaspoon of olive oil). Use a wooden spoon to combine the ingredients. Once initial mixing is done, you can lightly oil your hands and begin kneading the dough; knead for 5 minutes. When done, the dough should be slightly tack (that is, it should be barely beyond sticking to your hands).
3. Lightly oil the dough ball and the interior of a 1-quart glass bowl. Place the dough ball in the bowl and seal the bowl with clear food wrap; seal air tight. Set aside at room termperature to rise until double in bulk; about 1 1/2 to 2 hours

Sauce:
Make the peanut sauce from the oriental noodles (see July post under Oriental Sesame Noodles). We liked using this sauce better than the one in the CPK book.

Toppings:
1T olive oil
10 oz. boneless/skinless chicken breast, cut into 3/4-in. cubes
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese (we used a cheddar/monterey jack cheese)
4 scallions, slivered diagonally oriental style
1/2 c. white bean sprouts
1/4 c. shredded carrot
2 T. chopped roasted peanuts
2 T. chopped fresh cilantro

To make Thai Chicken:
1. Cook the chicken in olive oil over medium-high heat, stirring, until just cooked, 5-6 minutes. Do not overcook. set aside in the refrigerator until chilled through. Once chilled, coat the chicken with 1/4 c. peanut sauce. Set aside in the refrigerator.

To make the pizza:
1.Place the pizza stone in the center of the oven and preheat to 500 F for one hour before cooking the pizzas
2. Use a large spoon to spread half of the remaining peanut sauce eavenly over the surface of the prepared dough within the rim. Cover the sauce with 3/4 c. mozzarella.
3. Distribute half the chicken pieces evenly over the cheese followed by half the green onions, bean sprouts, and carrots, repectively. Sprinkle an additional 1/4 c. mozzarella over the other toppings and top the pizza with 1 T. chopped roasted peanuts.
4. Transfer the pizza to the oven; bake until the crust is crisp and golden and the cheese at the center is bubble, 9-10 min. When cooked through, carefully remove the pizza from the oven. Sprinkle 1T chopped fresh cilantro over the hot, cheesy surface. Slice and serve.
5. Repeat with remaining ingredients for a second pizza.

1 comment:

EmilyCC said...

Oh, this looks very tasty! Smart move to use a sauce from another recipe, too.