4/10/12

Thai Chicken Pizza






Love this recipe for Thai Chicken Pizza. It's based off of the CPK restaurant recipe.  I love the flavors in this pizza. The original recipe calls for Thai Sate sauce only, but I like to mix it up a bit and add some other flavors.  If you love specialty pizza but have been afraid to try it at home, now is your chance to take a leap of faith! This recipe is really simple, and fun to make. It's just a matter of buying sauce, some fresh ingredients and chopping. The crust recipe comes from John Spottiswood of Cook, Eat, Share (a recipe website that connects bloggers, chefs and cooks together and catalogs all of their recipes in one location). The dough is perfect for traditional pizza or specialty pizza.  John's pizza dough really deserves a post of its own!
You're going to love this dish.
Promise.





Thai Chicken Pizza
adapted from California Pizza Kitchen
print recipe

Dough for pizza, recipe below- best prepared one day or at least 8 hours in advance

Pizza topping:
1 cups chicken, cooked, chopped
1 tablespoons plus 1/4 cup Thai Sate Sauce
1/4 cup Hoisin Sauce, optional
1/4 cup Chili Garlic sauce, optional
1 1/4 cups Mozzarella cheese, grated and divided
2 green onions, chopped
2-3 tablespoons chopped peanuts
1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro, divided
1/3 cup bean sprouts, fresh, washed and patted dry
1/2 cup fresh chopped carrots

If you have a pizza stone, place in the oven on bottom rack.
Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
Roll out one ball of dough into a 12-14 inch circle.  Place onto a 14 inch pizza pan that has been coated lightly with cornmeal or cooking spray. You should have two balls of dough remaining for future use.
Toss the chicken with one tablespoon of Thai Sate Sauce, if desired. Or you may skip this step. Set aside.
Mix the sauces together (Sate, Hoisin and Chili Garlic) and spread sauce on top of the rolled out dough.
Spread one cup of cheese evenly on top of sauce.
Sprinkle chicken, green onions, chopped peanuts, 1/4 cup of the cilantro,  sprout and carrots on top of the cheese.  Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup of cheese.
Bake the pizza for about 8 minutes or until the pizza starts to set up. At this point, I use a pizza peel to slide the pizza directly onto the pizza stone. Cook for an additional 5-8 minutes or until the pizza is golden brown on the bottom. Remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup of the fresh cilantro. Cut and serve immediately.
Serves 2-4


New York Style Pizza Dough
John Spottiswood, Cook, Eat, Share

2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (1 package)
1 cup lukewarm water
1 1/4 cups ice cold water
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp salt or 1 1/2 Tbsp kosher salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
5 1/2 cups unbleached bread or high-gluten flour, plus flour for dusting


In a small bowl, stir the yeast into the lukewarm water with a fork. Set aside to let the yeast dissolve for about 5 minutes.
In another small bowl combine the cold water, sugar, salt, and olive oil. Stir to dissolve.
To make the dough by hand, place the flour in a large bowl. Make a well in the flour and stir in the yeast and the cold water mixture. Using a wooden spoon, mix the dough thoroughly. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead until soft and elastic, about 10-12 minutes. It will still be tacky but should no longer stick to your hands.
To make the dough with a mixer (highly recommended), fit a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment. Place the flour in a large mixer bowl and add the yeast and cold water mixture. Mix on low speed for about 4 minutes. Push dough off the hook and let it rest for 2 minutes. Then mix again on low speed for about 6 more minutes. Push down the hook if dough rises too high and threatens to get in the motor. Turn the dough out onto a well floured board and and knead for a minute or two until it forms a smooth ball.
To prepare the dough for rising, cut the dough into thirds. With floured hands pick up one portion of dough and pull the opposite edges together, wrapping them underneath towards the center to form a tight ball. Pinch the edge to seal. Repeat with the other two sections. Place each portion in a 1 gallon Ziploc bag. Squeeze our any excess air and seal the bags. Refrigerate for at least 10 hours or up to 2 days (longer is better). Remove from the refrigerator at least 1 hour before using so the dough can come to room temperature.
This dough freezes well.
Yield 3- 14-16 inch thin crust or three medium thickness 12 inch crusts.

Tips:
- Pizza- I combined the three sauces mentioned, because I don't like the heavy peanut flavor of the Sate Sauce alone. I prefer a more tangy and sweet combo with a hint of the peanut flavor sauce. Experiment to see what you like best.
You may also make the pizza as directed leaving all of the veggies off until after baking, and then placing all on top of the sauce, chicken and cheese that has been baked. This produces more of a fresh looking and tasting pizza.
-Dough- I love this dough. I kept it in the fridge for about a week the first time I made it. Really wonderful texture. It freezes well. When ready to use, take out of freezer and place on counter for about 4 hours or until thawed and no longer cold. It rolls out easily and is very easy to work.

-For specialty pizzas (such as Thai Chicken, and BBQ Chicken), I prefer to roll the crust thin, so the toppings can be center stage.


2 comments:

  1. Ahh, love this recipe! We have a weak spot for Thai Chicken Pizza (like the one at Yardhouse) and are definitely going to give this version a go.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very inventive. Looks great! Excellent pizza.

    ReplyDelete

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