Malaysian Chicken Pizza

Malaysian Chicken Pizza is a weekday favorite in my house. When I make it,I feel like we are eating at California Pizza Kitchen. This recipe originally came from cooking light, but like all recipes I take from cooking light, I tweaked it a little bit. This probably makes it a little less "light" but ultimately, it became a dish my husband requests all the time--so I think the changes were worth it.

The first few times I made this pizza, I had the issue that the sauce never became very thick and would drip over the edges and burn. I realized the sauce needed to simmer for at least 10-12 minutes (the directions said 6 minutes), and extra peanut butter really helped too (3 heaping tablespoons versus 2) as well as firmly packing the brown sugar. I also started adding extra mozzarella in order to keep the sauce from running over the edges. Again, this probably makes the pizza a little less "light" but much more successful.

Here is what you will need:



Step 1: Preheat oven to 500°. Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces.


Step 2: Heat a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Add chicken, and sauté 2 minutes.



Step 3: While the chicken is cooking, combine the first 8 ingredients in a bowl--peanut butter, rice vinegar, crushed red pepper, water, minced ginger, brown sugar, low-sodium soy sauce, and garlic; stir well with a whisk.



Step 4: Remove chicken from pan. Pour the rice vinegar mixture into the pan, and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook mixture until slightly thickened. This always takes me at least 10-12 minutes.





Step 5: Return the chicken to the pan; cook for 1 minute or until the chicken is done. (Mixture will be the consistency of thick syrup.)



Step 6: Sprinkle cheese over prepared crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border (I don't measure this, I just sprinkle it all over the pizza---if you really want to keep this light, use the measurements from the original ingredients listed below), and top with the chicken mixture. I cannot emphasize enough, just spoon the chicken onto the pizza with a little bit of sauce, and leave a decent border. If the pizza looks sufficiently covered, do not pour the remaining sauce over the pizza because it will drip over the crust and burn.





Step 7: Bake at 500° for 12 minutes on the bottom rack in oven. Sprinkle with green onions. Place pizza on a cutting board; let stand 5 minutes.



The list of ingredients:
3/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
2 tablespoons chunky peanut butter (I find 3 heaping tablespoons makes for a much better pizza)
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
Cooking spray
1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded reduced-fat, reduced-sodium Swiss cheese (I only use mozzarella because that is what I usually have on hand)
1/4 cup (1 ounce) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 (12-inch) Basic Pizza Crust
1/4 cup chopped green onions