thai chicken naan pizza

back in the day, my mom + i loved spending our afternoons hitting the pavement at the shopping mall by us. {oakbrook mall, that is – holla chicagoland peeps!}

we’re both 5 foot 2 -on a good day- so we would work up quite the appetite running our little legs around for hours in the name of a good sale. california pizza kitchen, or CPK, as the cool kids called it, was one of our fav places to rest our gams + grab lunch.

CPK offered three pages of pizza spins but my poor italian mother birthed a daughter who gets a rash from tomato sauce, so we always stuck to the “non-traditional” section of the menu.

my favorite? the thai chicken pizza.

it’s basically like pb+j and stir fry had a baby. it rules.

finding restaurant recipes that you can make at home is basically the point of the internet {it’s not? are you sure?}, so you can imagine my excitement when i came across this take on the thai chicken pizza that i loved so much.

the peanut sauce ingredient list might look a bit daunting, but believe it or not, these are staples in my ambitious cubburds!

if you aren’t stocked with the the few vinegars + sauces needed, i promise you’ll find each one worth the grocery trip! turns out things like rice wine vinegar + sherry are needed things in the kitchen world!

let’s just put it this way, i’m basically arming you for any sort of asian curveball that late night of menu planning on pinterest might throw at you!

another plus!

after blitzing the sauce up in the blender + spreading the love across your naan, you should have a little leftover!

wanna know one of my favorite ways to use it up?

grab yourself a package of ramen noodles, {yes, im serious}, throw away the flavor pack {now you’re taking me more serious, aren’t you?}, boil the noodles, drain, add the peanut sauce + top witha generous amount of sriracha + sliced scallions!

true life: i just gave you TWO recipes in one post.

so go on. make this! now you have two reasons!

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don’t have cooked chicken on hand? skip the rotisserie + check out my recipe for simple poached chicken! try the asian zest with this pizza – it adds so much flavor!

 

naan is my number one choice for this recipe because it’s a bit hearty yet crisps up beautifully! {i love the Stonefire brand} but if naan is not accessible or easy for you, you can build this pizza atop any crust you wish – homemade, store-bought or even a sesame seed bagel! all i would suggest is using something on the thicker end of the scale since the pizza is rather topping-heavy!

this recipe makes for a great appetizer! pop a few in the oven + cut into squares for easy hand-held snacking.

you will want to reach for slightly sweet wines like a rieslings or gewurztraminer to pair with this. the slight sweetness + floral notes match very well with the many flavors of thai food + the sugar mitigates the effect of chili + spice on the palate. as for beer, go with an ice-cold brown ale.

watch my ambitious step-by-step moves from my snapchat story!

{don’t forget to follow along in real time @kellymaurine}