THAI PIZZA, CHICKEN OR TOFU

I don’t know if I’ve told you, but Billy and I are kinda pizza snobs.  We live in an area of South Florida where there are tons of New Yorkers, and New Yorkers know how to make pizza!  

Since we are such pizza snobs (I'm really not proud of being a snob), it came as a shock to me that we actually love Thai Pizza.  

I’ve never seen Thai Pizza on any menu at our local pizza joints; in fact they may be mortified that there are actually people who put peanut sauce on pizza dough and call it pizza.  But I did it, I put peanut sauce and chicken and tofu on a pizza…and it’s de-lish!

You can make this pizza as complicated or as easy as you like.  Make your own dough or buy it. Whisk up some freshly made peanut sauce or open up a jar.  Cook your own chicken, use rotisserie chicken or slice up some tofu.

Thai Pizza with Chicken for chicken lovers, and Thai Pizza with Tofu for vegetarians.

One of these pizzas will feed two people so I made two pizzas so that we could have leftovers, and let me tell you that Billy and I both were excited to eat this Thai Pizza all over again.

Here’s what you do.

Here's what you need:  1 lb. of fresh pizza dough or 2 store bought pizza crusts, Peanut Sauce, sliced grilled or baked tofu, OR sliced cooked chicken (I use a BBQ flavor rotisserie chicken and sliced it with the skin on), red bell pepper, onion, bamboo shoots, mozzarella cheese, and cilantro leaves.

I also like to have some chopped roasted peanuts, but I forgot to get some.

I was going to make my usual Peanut Sauce when I remembered that I had this peanut butter, it came in a peanut butter sampler that I ordered on FAB.

Asian Jazz peanut butter is spicy and yummy; I included directions on how to make peanut sauce using this ingredient at the end of the recipe!

Baked or grilled tofu has a denser meaty texture to it, there's nothing jiggly about this tofu.

If I make pizza dough, I like to allow it to rise overnight in the refrigerator to ferment and get really flavorful.  Since I was making this pizza on a whim, I bought my dough at the grocery store, they sell it in the bakery section.  Some pizza parlors will also sell their dough.  You may also use store bought pizza shells, just be sure and bake them according to the package directions.

Cut the one pound ball into two to make the pizza more manageable.

You may use a rolling pin, I like to pull the dough by hand, just use whatever means necessary to make your dough into a 12 to 14 inch circle, or a 16 by 9 inch football, and you’ll see what I mean about the football in two more frames.

Add a generous amount of cornmeal a peel or the back of a sheet pan (a peel really is best).  

The cornmeal acts as little ball bearings that allow the pizza to slide off of the peel easily.

I neglected to mention that I use a pizza stone to bake my pizza on.  If you're using a pizza stone, then you will want to use the peel.  

If you're baking your pizza in a pan, then don't bother with the peel.  Just lay the pizza dough in the pan and assemble it, if you have two pans, then you may make both pizzas at the same time. 

See?  Football!  

Assemble one pizza at a time, first spread the peanut sauce on the bottom, leave 1/2 to 1 inch border free of sauce.

Since the chicken and bamboo shoots don't need to cook, I lay them on first.

The same goes for the tofu.

Layer thinly sliced red bell pepper and onions next.

 

Top with grated mozzarella cheese.  

I don't like to overdo the cheese, so only 1 cup is used on each pizza, if you like it really cheesy you'll want to use more cheese than that.

Bake on a pizza stone that's really hot, follow the manufacturer's instructions. 

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly.

Do not assemble your next pizza until you pull this one out of the oven or you won't have a peel to retrieve your pizza with...Don't ask how I know!



If baking pizza in a pan, then bake in a pre-heated 450 degree oven, for about 15 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbly; you may bake both pizzas at once if you have two pans.

As soon as the pizzas come from the oven top them with cilantro leave and chopped peanuts (just pretend that there are peanuts in the pic).  Wait for just a couple of minutes before slicing into the pizzas...if you can!

 

THAI PIZZA, CHICKEN OR TOFU

Serves 4

1              lb.           Fresh pizza dough (some grocery stores make and sell it in their bakery, or you may get it from the pizza parlor)

½             cup         Peanut sauce

2              cups        Cooked chicken, sliced (rotisserie, grilled or roasted chicken), or 5 oz.  Grilled tofu, sliced

1              cup         Red bell pepper, thinly sliced

½             cup         Onion, thinly sliced

½             cup         Bamboo shoots

8              oz.          Mozzarella cheese, grated (about 2 cups)

1/3           cup         Cilantro, leaves only (optional)

¼             cup         Roasted peanuts, chopped (optional)   

                             Cornmeal for dusting the pizza peel

   1.       If using a pizza stone, put that in the oven.  Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees.

   2.       Cut the dough into two pieces and working with one piece at a time; stretch or roll the dough until it is a 12-14 inch circle.  You may find it easiest to stretch the dough, let it rest and then stretch it some more.

   3.       If using pizza pans, lay each round of dough onto the pan.  If using a stone, sprinkle a generous amount or corn meal onto a pizza peel (or the underside of a sheet pan); place one round of the dough on the peel.

   4.       If using pizza pans, go ahead and make both pizzas at the same time; most pizza stones will only have space to cook one pizza at a time, so only prep one at a time. You will use half of the ingredients for each pizza.  Start by spreading the peanut sauce onto one round of the dough, but leave a ½ to 1 inch border free of sauce.  Layer the chicken (or tofu), bell pepper, onion, and bamboo shoots and top with cheese.

   5.       If using pizza pans, just put them straight into the hot oven for about 15 minutes; if using the pizza stone, slide the pizza off of the peel (or the back of a sheet pan) on to the stone and bake for 8 to 10 minutes; until the edges of the crust are golden brown and the cheese is melted and bubbly and is golden in spots.

   6.       Remove the pizza from the oven and sprinkle the cilantro and chopped peanuts over the top (optional).

Note: Two store bought pizza crusts may be substituted for the pizza dough, bake those according to the package directions.

Asian Jazz Peanut Sauce

1-8           oz. jar    Asian Jazz Peanut Butter (this peanut butter has spices added to it)

3              Tbsp.     Rice vinegar

3              Tbsp.     Honey

1              Tbsp.     Soy sauce, low-sodium

¼ - 1/3     cup       Hot water

   1.       In a medium bowl, mix the peanut butter, rice vinegar, honey and soy sauce with a whisk; add the hot water a little at a time until you have the consistency of a thick sauce.

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Fresh Fig & Proscuitto Pizza topped with Arugula

Pizza Joint Chicken Wings

Asian Chicken Salad with Peanut Dressing