Last week, my friend Aaron's awesome girlfriend, Katie, was in town from Spokane and invited me and 10 other friends to their house for pizza night. The last time I saw Katie was 4th of July weekend, when my pseudo-uncle David was hand-feeding perfectly marinated and BBQ'd steak to all my friends. This time I was coming straight from work, so force feeding was out, but my contributions came in the form of a lemon bundt and raspberry coffee cake from Whole Foods. The two cakes were so tasty, they disappeared in a matter of minutes even after 6 pizzas. When I arrived, Aaron greeted me with a healthy glass of wine. I asked Katie if I could help her to prepare the pizzas, but was left to watch the master at work.
When Katie explained that all the ingredients were bought at Trader Joe's, I got very excited...the less trips to the grocery store for one meal the better. Although I had seen the pizza dough on the shelf at TJ's, I was both skeptical and intimidated. I thought it would be hard to get the pizza crust just right. To my surprise, it was easy and fun to cook with. Out of the package, the dough was perfectly flowered and sized, making it quick and consistent to prepare your pizza. In a bowl, Katie mixed the toppings: cilantro, green onions, sliced carrots, crushed peanuts, peanut sauce, toasted sesame seeds and chicken sauteed in a pan. She spread out the wheat crust pizza dough on the counter and smothered it with the Thai chicken toppings, then blanketed the whole pizza with two types of cheese and placed it in the oven. We pulled it out once to check that the bottom was cooked all the way through and when it was ready, we sliced it up to serve.
The cheese had melted over the top forming a pocket with all the toppings insulated and heated inside. I drizzled Sriracha over my slices to give it the extra kick, it was perfect. The bottom crust was cooked to perfection, the toppings were supper tasty and the layer of cheese over the top was melted just right. She repeated this process with a second Thai chicken pizza, as well as 2 meat lovers and veggies. What was nice about the whole cooking process was that she could prepare two at a time, stick them in the oven and serve them while preparing the next two, keeping the pizzas hot and fresh. I can't wait to begin experimenting with my own exotic pizza ingredients and serving my favorite to all my friends. If you're having a handful of people over, this is a great dish to serve. With little preparation and a platform for ingenuity, you'll be sure to impress your guests.
When Katie explained that all the ingredients were bought at Trader Joe's, I got very excited...the less trips to the grocery store for one meal the better. Although I had seen the pizza dough on the shelf at TJ's, I was both skeptical and intimidated. I thought it would be hard to get the pizza crust just right. To my surprise, it was easy and fun to cook with. Out of the package, the dough was perfectly flowered and sized, making it quick and consistent to prepare your pizza. In a bowl, Katie mixed the toppings: cilantro, green onions, sliced carrots, crushed peanuts, peanut sauce, toasted sesame seeds and chicken sauteed in a pan. She spread out the wheat crust pizza dough on the counter and smothered it with the Thai chicken toppings, then blanketed the whole pizza with two types of cheese and placed it in the oven. We pulled it out once to check that the bottom was cooked all the way through and when it was ready, we sliced it up to serve.
The cheese had melted over the top forming a pocket with all the toppings insulated and heated inside. I drizzled Sriracha over my slices to give it the extra kick, it was perfect. The bottom crust was cooked to perfection, the toppings were supper tasty and the layer of cheese over the top was melted just right. She repeated this process with a second Thai chicken pizza, as well as 2 meat lovers and veggies. What was nice about the whole cooking process was that she could prepare two at a time, stick them in the oven and serve them while preparing the next two, keeping the pizzas hot and fresh. I can't wait to begin experimenting with my own exotic pizza ingredients and serving my favorite to all my friends. If you're having a handful of people over, this is a great dish to serve. With little preparation and a platform for ingenuity, you'll be sure to impress your guests.
Katie (with Aaron's help) made some great pizza, the meat pizza especially was phenomenal.
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