Thai Chicken Pizza

As I sit here writing, good ol' Ted Allen, host of Chopped, delightfully educated me that 93% of Americans eat pizza.  Tonight, I contributed to that statistic.  You know what else I contributed to?  The percentage of Americans that eat salad, which I can feel a little better about.  Seriously. This pizza is great, it's like the offspring of pizza + salad.  Once the pizza is out of the oven a tasty slaw finishes it off.  Subtle coconut, salty peanuts, tart lime, and savory garlic marry flawlessly resulting in a dynamic, fresh pizza, different than any pizza you've had before.  Or should I call it a salad?


Disclaimer: I definitely realize this looks incredibly complicated, but you can make it as simple or complicated as you please.  Many steps can be eliminated by buying ready-made items from the store, or making parts ahead.  Both the dough and the sauce is appropriate to buy make ahead.

Pizza dough (or buy it ready from the store)

• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1. In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand for about 10 minutes, until foamy.
2. Stir the olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture, then mix in the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour until dough starts to come together. Tip dough out onto a surface floured with the remaining all-purpose flour, and knead until all of the flour has been absorbed, and the ball of dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. When the dough is doubled, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 2 pieces. Form into a tight ball. Let rise for about 45 minutes, until doubled.

Slaw

• 1/4 head cabbage, thinly sliced
• 1/4 head purple cabbage, thinly sliced
• 1 large carrot, shredded
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• 3 Tbs lime juice
• 3 Tbs rice wine vinegar
• 2 Tbs honey or agave
• 3/4 Tbs fish sauce

1. In a bowl, combine lime juice, rice wine vinegar, honey, and fish sauce.  Whisk until incorporated.
2. Add cabbage and carrot. Stir to incorporate, and refrigerate until ready to serve.  Add cilantro immediately before topping pizza.

Peanut Sauce* (or you can buy it)

• 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
• 2/3 cup coconut milk, or more to reach desired consistency
• 3 tablespoons water
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

1. Mix everything together :)   

Chicken Breast Marinade

• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 3 Tbs soy sauce 

 Everything else

• 1 cup peanut sauce
• 1/2 bell pepper, julianned
• 1 chicken breast, cooked & sliced thin* 
• 1/3 cup peanuts, chopped 
• 1/4 cup corn meal

Putting it all together

1. Heat your oven to 425°F.
2. Drizzle two 9x13 pans with olive oil, and sprinkle with corn meal.
3. Roll your dough out to fit the pans.  Spread each crust with peanut sauce.  Place chicken and peppers on crust.  Bake 18-20 minutes.
4. Remove pizza from oven, top with slaw, cilantro, and crushed peanuts.  Serve immediately.

Notes:

• Making the peanut sauce a day ahead is best, the flavors take a little time to jive.
• The peanut sauce recipe can be halved to accommodate the recipe, but I love having left overs for chicken satay the next day :)
• You can add cheese before baking, mozzarella is good, but not particularly necessary.

 Yields 2 pizzas, 8-10 servings.