have been twitching for some summer season! After waiting, not very patiently, for what seemed like forever, we had a day where it was sunny and 10 degrees celsius. Warm enough for pizza we said! But really, it was still pretty chilly so I thought a Curried Chicken Pizza would be a great balance of hot with our cold. The crowd was super happy with results of our chilly pizza night because we got warmed up nicely from the inside.
I chopped up chicken thighs and sauted them in a non-stick frypan with some coconut oil. You could use olive or another fat of your choice. I like to season my chicken thighs with granulated garlic and Hy’s seasoning salt but you could do salt and pepper. Cook the chicken until you get a nice crust on the outside and the inside is cooked through. Usually, it takes about 15 minutes. Pull the chicken off the heat and keep the pan on the stove because you will use it again. Then, make your curry sauce. MMMMMM…….
Full disclosure here, I do happen to like some spice in my life. If you don’t, just reduce the hot yellow curry powder which I got at The Silk Road Spice Merchant in Calgary or use a more mild variety. I just happen to be in love with that store which has the most amazing selection of spices and all kinds of goodies for us foodie types.
Anyways, I mixed together hot yellow curry powder, ground coriander, cumin, cayenne, turmeric, garam masala, salt and black pepper and set it aside.
I LOVE the look of different coloured spices in the same bowl before they are mixed up. I just think it is just so vibrant and foreshadows the power of the dish!.
Then, I minced fresh garlic and ginger. Finely dice red and yellow onion and sweet bell peppers. You can add minced fresh hot peppers as well if you really like your spice. You might want to try it without first to make sure you aren’t going to sizzle your lips off. Using the fry pan that you cooked the chicken in, add a little more oil and bring to a medium heat. Add the onions and peppers and sweat them for a few minutes before adding the garlic and ginger. Once the vegetables have softened, toss in your mixed curry spices, stir and wait for your nose to thank you. Cook the spice vegetable mixture for a few minutes to enhance the flavour of the spices.
Add in a can of crushed tomatoes. If you don’t happen to have crushed tomatoes, just use diced or whole canned tomatoes. If I was making chicken curry to have over rice, I would add back in the chicken at this point as well. For the pizza though, I think it is better to separate out the sauce from the pizza toppings. Stir it up and let it simmer for 30 minutes or so.
Then, I add either a cup of plain yogurt or a cup of coconut milk if I am making it dairy-free. Add juice of half a lemon and stir it up. Taste it and add some salt or some more lemon. You might also find that you want to add some more yogurt or coconut milk if it is too spicy for your palate. I have also added some honey to take the edge off the spice.
Take an immersion blender and blitz it up until smooth. If you prefer, you can transfer it to your blender to pulverize it there. The advantage of using the immersion blender is that you can leave it in the pot. Then, if the sauce isn’t the right thickness for pizza sauce, you can cook it longer if it is too thin or add a little more liquid if it is too thick. Once it is blended and the right thickness, taste it again and correct any seasoning issues.
Roll out a pizza round from the Pizza Dough recipe on this site. Put some corn meal or semolina flour on your pizza peel before you transfer your dough round to it. If you don’t believe me that you need to, just try it. Then you will get it…..
By the way, it is actually super important to transfer the pizza round to the corn meal/semolina covered peel RIGHT BEFORE you actually make the pizza. If, for example, you transfer the pizza round and then mess around getting the lighting for food photos right and setting up your shot and then make the pizza, it turns out that is a really bad thing. It turns out that when you try to scoot the pizza off the peel and into the oven, you get scrambled pizza all over your wood fired pizza oven because the pizza dough absorbs the corn meal/semolina and everything sticks to the pizza peel. Just one of the many informational services we provide here at 4loveoffood.com.
If you are making this gluten-free, you simply substitute your favourite gluten-free base for the pizza dough and carry on.
So, before you transfer your pizza round, get some sliced sweet bell peppers, chopped jalapeno, chopped green onion and chopped cilantro. Grate some mozzarella cheese. If you are keeping this dairy free, substitute some dairy free cheese. NOW, transfer the pizza round to the corn meal/semolina covered pizza peel and then take a spoon. Coat the pizza with a nice, thick coating of the curry sauce.
Add the chicken. Cover with the grated cheese and then place the sweet peppers and jalapenos on top of the cheese. Slide it into the oven and cook for about 3 – 5 minutes or until done. If you are doing this in a conventional oven, you will need to adjust the time. I would highly recommend cooking it on a pizza stone.
Once done, remove from the oven and top with fresh green onions and fresh chopped cilantro. Serve your Curried Chicken Pizza with a nice, cold glass of white wine. As a friend of mine said, it pairs nicely with curry….. As always, please let me know how you liked it. Thanks in advance to my sharp eyed followers who help me out with missing ingredients or typos! Happy pizza night!
Chop chicken thighs into pieces.
Heat coconut oil in medium non-stick fry pan. Add chopped chicken and season with the granulated garlic and seasoning salt. When it has a nice crust and is cooked through, set it aside, keeping the fry pan for further use.
Mix together the curry powder, coriander, cumin, cayenne, turmeric, garam masala and salt and pepper.
Heat the second amount of coconut oil to the fry pan that you cooked the chicken in and then add the chopped sweet peppers and onions.
Start the fire in your pizza oven and heat to 600 or preheat your oven to as hot as it will go.
Once the vegetables are softened, add the mixed spices and cook for a few minutes to enhance the flavour of the spices.
Add in the canned tomatoes and cook for about 30 minutes or so.
Add the yogurt and the lemon juice and mix into the sauce.
Use an immersion blender to blend the sauce until smooth. Taste and adjust for seasoning. If it is too spicy for you, add more yogurt or maybe some honey.
Once you like the flavour, assess the thickness of the sauce. You want it to be a thick sauce that won't run all over the pizza. If it is too thin, cook longer and if it is too thick, add some more yogurt.
Once you are happy with the flavour and the thickness of the sauce, set it aside and prepare your pizza surface.
Assemble your pizza peel and get out some corn meal or semolina flour to cover it.
Roll out the pizza dough and transfer to the pizza peel.
Using a spoon, put a thick coat of curry sauce over the pizza dough.
Add the cooked chicken and cover completely with grated mozzarella.
Arrange the sliced bell peppers and jalapenos on top of the cheese.
Bake in your pizza oven for 3 - 5 minutes or until nicely browned. If using a conventional oven, cook until the dough is completely cooked and the cheese is nicely melted. It is difficult to give a baking time because the max temperature of each oven is different. It will be somewhere around 20 - 30 minutes I believe.