Catching up with two pizzas!

I have totally been delinquent on this blog lately...so much so that my mum even commented the other day that I'd been slacking!!!  So I am catching up today by adding two pizza recipes that I found and made ages ago, but just hadn't gotten around to posting about.

Pizza Number One!
I think it was back in January that I had a desperate craving for pizza and something spicy!  Anyone that knows me knows that I just love Asian food of any kind and the spicier the better!  So, when I had some chicken in the fridge needing using up, I went in search of a Thai chicken pizza recipe.  I found a great recipe at the blog In Praise of Leftovers!  She posted a recipe for Thai Chicken Pizza that she apparently found through Rachael Ray and tweaked slightly...and then I just made a minor change myself.  Wow, was it every yummy!

 just loved how fresh and crispy the vegetables still were on top of the pizza!

 First I combined the sauce ingredients and coated the chicken pieces well before popping them in the over at 350F for about 20 minutes.  Don't  be fooled by the slightly unappealing photos...the smell in the kitchen was phenomenal!

Next I prepared my seasoned carrot and cucumber mixture.  Such a fresh smell!

Here is the prepared pizza all ready to go into the oven!

And here is the finished pizza.  I think I may have baked the pizza slightly longer than called for as it looks a bit too brown, but it was still wonderful.  The only thing I didn't care for as much was the recipe that Sarah included as her pizza crust.  I've included a link for it anyhow, but  I found it a bit too think and hard.  Perhaps that was my over baking it, but I don't think so.

Thai Chicken Pizza

Courtesy of In Praise of Leftovers

Pizza dough - Here is Sarah's recipe for a thin crust
1/2 c. hoisin sauce
2 c. shredded mozzarella

1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 red jalapeño, sliced into thin rings
1 Tb. vegetable oil
2 Tb. soy sauce
1 Tb. peanut butter
2 tsp. Asian hot sauce
1/2 lb chicken breasts
2 Tb. honey
2 Tb. rice wine vinegar
1/4 seedless cucumber, cut into matchsticks
4 scallions, julienned
1 medium carrot, peeled and julienned
couple handfuls beansprouts
handful chopped cilantro

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Combine vegetable oil, soy sauce and peanut butter with hot sauce . Add chicken and coat evenly with mixture. Bake chicken in over at 350F until cooked through.  About 20 minutes or so.  Slice chicken into very thin strips.

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

Form pizza crust on pizza pan or cookie sheet. Top with hoisin sauce - spread it around like pizza sauce. Top crust with cheese, peppers, and chicken. Bake until golden and bubbly, about 15 minutes.

Top the hot, cooked pizza with scallions, sprouts and cilantro. Drain cucumber mixture and scatter over the pizza. Serve with crushed red pepper flakes on the side.

YUMMY!

Pizza Number Two!
Since I had pizza on the brain that week and I just loved making it all from scratch, a few days later I went in search of another pizza recipe....enter Pioneer Woman.  Anyone who follows cooking/food blogs has definitely heard of the infamous Pioneer Woman, Ree.  She regularly cooks wholesome, down to earth meals that are always hearty and even more tasty!  It was in my search for to die for pizza tastiness that I found her post for CPK's (California Pizza Kitchen) BBQ Chicken Pizza.  I cannot tell you how much I loved this pizza!  OMG, it was so delicious!  Just as delicious as the Thai pizza above, but just completely different.

CPK's BBQ Chicken Pizza
Courtesy of The Pioneer Woman

• 1 whole Recipe For Pizza Crust (mine Makes Two Crusts)
• 2 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• ½ cups Barbecue Sauce
• Olive Oil, For Drizzling
• Salt For Sprinkling
• 16 ounces, weight Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, Sliced Thinly
• ½ whole Red Onion, Cut In Half And Sliced Very Thin
• Chopped Cilantro, to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Salt chicken breasts on both sides, then place in an ovenproof dish. Pour BBQ sauce over the breasts and turn them over to coat. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until chicken is done. Remove from oven and cut into a fine dice. Set aside.

Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees.

Roll/stretch out one pizza crust. Lay it on a sheet pan drizzled with olive oil. Drizzle a little olive oil on the crust, then sprinkle on a little salt.

Spoon a couple of tablespoons of extra BBQ sauce on the crust and spread it evenly. Top sauce with half the sliced mozzarella. Sprinkle on half the diced chicken and thinly sliced red onion.


Sprinkle again with a little salt, then bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and toppings are bubbly.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle on plenty of chopped cilantro. Cut into squares and serve immediately. Repeat with other crust and other ingredients, or save for another time.

The Pioneer Woman's Awesome Basic Pizza Crust

• 1 teaspoon Instant Or Active Dry Yeast
• 1-½ cup Warm Water
• 4 cups All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• ⅓ cups Olive Oil

Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (not lukewarm) water. Let stand for a few minutes.

In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined, and the dough comes together in a sticky mass. (I did this all by hand and it still turned out wonderful!)

Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set it aside for 1 to 2 hours, or store in the fridge until you need it.

Note: it’s best to make the dough at least 24 hours in advance, and 3 or 4 days is even better.

When you are ready to make the pizza, grab HALF the pizza dough (recipe makes 2 crusts) and squeeze the dough toward the bottom to form a nice, tight, pulled ball. You can roll out the pizza with a rolling pin if you’d like, but sometimes it’s just as easy to throw it around and pull and stretch till it feels right. And when the crust is nice and thin, lay it on an oiled baking sheet or pizza pan. Drizzle a little olive oil on the dough and spread it with your fingers. Very lightly sprinkle some salt on the crust.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Top your crust with your toppings of choice. Then bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and toppings are bubbly.

 My photos really don't do this pizza justice because it was really DELICIOUS!!  I LOVED THIS PIZZA!  I think one thing that I really loved about this pizza was the crust as well.  Really, I just loved everything about this pizza, the crust was just how I liked it and the flavours were perfect. 

Don't let me put you off the Thai one though because that was really yummy too!

Out of the two, this was my favourite, but Chris loved the Thai one more...so to each his own.  The neighbours are coming for supper with their young son this coming Saturday and I think BBQ chicken pizza would be perfect for him!