Pizza is one of the few dinners I routinely make. Naturally, it is all from scratch. At one point, I tried to tell my family that I didn’t have the time to make pizza from scratch since I was working full time. They went along with me for a while and we enjoyed Domino’s delivery, but it didn’t last. Eventually, everyone was back to wanting me to make it. I relented, admitting there wasn’t usually much work involved in putting together our own pizzas since we own a bread maker! Turns out, that was a very good thing. Our latest move put us about 25 minutes from the nearest Domino’s and they won’t deliver this far out. We’ve tried the local pizza places and they weren’t bad, but we haven’t hit upon one place or pizza we love yet.

When we are in the mood for something different from our normal toppinged pizzas (and I’m up for the bit of work involved to make it) we go for a spiced-up chicken one. This is not your typical BBQ’d chicken topping! There is some spiciness to it but more of a Far East richness from the vinegars, ginger and peanut butter. Put it on top of your own pizza dough or a purchased dough or crust.

Malaysian Chicken Pizza (adapted from Cooking Light)

• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
•  1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  

  Not your usual pizza toppings!

• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• Cooking spray
• 1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 1 pound of pizza dough or one pizza crust (see “New Beginnings” for my pizza crust)

Preparation:

Combine the red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce, water, ginger, peanut butter, red pepper flakes and garlic in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Set aside.

Heat a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Add the chicken, and sauté for 2 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan.

Simmer the mixture to thicken it.

Pour the vinegar mixture into the pan and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook the mixture for 6 minutes or until slightly thickened. The mixture will be consistency of thick syrup. Return the chicken to the pan and cook 1 more minute.

Mix in the chicken.

Sprinkle cheeses over prepared crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border, and top with chicken mixture.

Onto the pizza with the cheeses.

Bake at 400° for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with green onions after removing the pizza from the oven. Place the pizza on a cutting board and let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

Spicy satisfaction!

Add some spice and variety to your Friday nights!   ~Linda