SERIOUS FOODIE CHINESE BBQ CHICKEN AND MUSHROOM PIZZA WITH VIETNAMESE CHILI HOT SAUCE KICK

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and place your pizza stone in the oven to preheat for at least 20 minutes.  Note – you can also make this pizza on a sheet pan (do not preheat) if you don’t have a stone.

Bring your pizza dough to room temperature and knead briefly.  Cover with a clean kitchen towel on the counter.  Periodically go back while you are preparing the toppings and knead the dough for a couple of minutes.  This is ‘proofing’ the dough and will make it easy to form into a large round when you are ready to put the pizza together.

Cut the chicken into 2-3” pieces.  Combine the flour and Chinese BBQ spices in a pie plate or shallow baking dish.  Place the chicken in the flour mixture and turn to fully coat each piece.

Heat the olive oil in a large deep skillet over medium high heat.  When the oil is hot, add the chicken and sear on each side until golden.  Remove from the pan and set aside.  The chicken does not need to be fully cooked through and will continue cooking on the pizza.

Add the bacon strips to the pan drippings from the chicken and cook until they are almost crispy.  Remove and chop into ½” pieces.

Add the onions, garlic, and ginger to the pan drippings and cook for 2-3 minutes until they are soft and fragrant.  Add the mushrooms to the pan and continue cooking until the mushrooms are soft and begin to lightly brown.  Add ¼ cup of the Vietnamese Sweet Chili Hot Sauce to the pan and cook for 1 minute, tossing to fully coat.  Remove from heat and let cool slightly while you form the dough.

Form your ‘proofed’ dough into a 12-14” round.  If the dough is still very springy, let it rest for another 10 minutes and try forming again.  Sprinkle the cornmeal on a pizza peel (or baking sheet and place your formed dough on top of it. The cornmeal will make the crust crispy and help the pizza to easily slide off the peel and onto the stone.

Top the dough with the mushroom mixture, spreading it evenly and leaving about 1” of dough exposed around the edge.  Top the mushrooms with the chicken pieces.  You can lightly ‘push’ the edges of the dough using the chicken pieces to make the crust a little larger and rounder.

Top the chicken with half of the parmesan, followed by all of the mozzarella, and the rest of the parmesan.  Drizzle ¼ cup of the remaining Vietnamese Sweet Chili Hot Sauce over the top.

Slide the pizza onto the hot stone in the oven (or place sheet pan in oven) and bake for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes brush the exposed crust with the remaining 2 tablespoons of the Hot Sauce.  Bake for 2 more minutes until bubbly and golden brown.  Remove and let sit for 5-10 minutes to set.  Top with the scallions and cabbage.

Cut into slices and devour!

PIZZA DOUGH

2 tablespoons olive oil (plus 2 teaspoons to oil the bowl)

1 tablespoon honey

1 ½ cups warm water (115-120 degrees)

1 packet yeast

2 teaspoons salt

3 ½ – 4 ½ cups flour

Place olive oil, honey, and water into the bowl of a stand mixer.  Stir to dissolve honey into the water (so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the bowl).  Sprinkle the yeast on top of the liquid mixture, stir, and let sit for 5-10 minutes until yeast becomes foamy.  Add salt and 2 ½ cups of the flour.  Mix using the dough hook attachment.  Gradually add as much of the remaining flour as needed until a ball forms and pulls away from the bowl.  Empty dough onto a floured countertop and knead for 8 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic adding flour as needed if sticky.

Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel.  Let rise in a warm spot for 1 hour until doubled in bulk.  Knead dough briefly and divide into 2 equal parts and form balls.  Let rest for 30 minutes under a clean kitchen towel.  If you are not using both balls, refrigerate each ball in a plastic bag sprayed with cooking spray for up to 5 days.

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