Who doesn't love a pizza? Mad Mick doesn't know such a person, so here's his cracking Chilli Chicken Pizza recipe. You can cheat and use pre-made bases, but Mad Mick reckons making your own from scratch can't be beaten, and it isn't that hard.
Makes 2 x 30cm pizzas.
Pizza Dough (Or you can cheat and get ready made pizza bases)
3 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons (the ones you stir your tea with) of dried yeast
Pinch of salt
1 and a quarter cups of lukewarm water
1 teaspoon of white sugar
1 tablespoon (the ones you eat your breakfast with) of olive oil
Pizza Sauce
3 ripe tomatoes
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
1 clove of garlic
4 small chilli (Birds eyes are good here, or, use 1 habanero for extra oomph)
Pinch of salt and pepper
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Pizza Topping
2 medium chicken breasts
Half a green capsicum
3 medium sized mushrooms
1 medium sized spanish (The purple ones) onion
BBQ Sauce
Mozzarella cheese
Pizza Dough
1. Turn your oven on and pre-heat it to the hottest setting available, pizzas love heat, (Mad Mick cooked his at 250c).
2. Add the sugar to the lukewarm water and stir until dissolved, then add the yeast, followed by a quick stir and set aside until the yeast becomes 'foamy', (see first photo above).
3. When the yeast has turned 'foamy', add the flour, salt and olive oil to a bowl, followed by the water/yeast mix.
4. With your (clean) hands combine the flour mix together. When mixed throroughly, turn out onto a bench top and knead until the dough reaches a pliable consistency, (see second photo above).
5. Put a small splash of olive oil into a bowl, and smear it around the inside of the bowl before adding the dough and setting it aside in a warm spot to rise. (Mad Mick reckons filling the kitchen sink with about 10cm of hot water and placing the covered bowl in here does the trick perfect).
6. When the dough has doubled in size empty it onto a bench top and 'punch it down', this is to knock the air out of it. Knead it back into a ball and place back in the bowl and let rise again.
7. When the dough has risen for the second time, remove it from the bowl and cut in half.
8. On 2 x 30cm pizza trays, smear a little olive oil and a sprinkle of salt, now roll your dough out onto the trays until the trays are covered, prick all over with a fork, (see third photo above).
9. Put the pizza trays containing the dough into the oven and wait until they slightly brown, then remove and set aside.
Pizza Sauce
1. To the blender add the tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic, chilli, salt, pepper and olive oil and blend until you get a smooth paste and set aside. (That was easy!)
Pizza Topping
1. Cut the chicken breasts into small pieces.
2. Add the chicken breast pieces to a pan with a splash of olive and cook until slightly browned.
3. Cut the mushrooms, capsicum and onion into small to medium size pieces.
Putting it all together
1. Using a tablespoon, cover the pizza bases with the pizza sauce.
2. Now add the chicken pieces followed by the onion, capsicum and mushroom making sure you spread the toppings around evenly.
3. Squirt some BBQ sauce over the top of the pizzas, (You can use almost any sauce here).
4. Grate a good serve of mozarella cheese all over the top of each pizza.
5. Put the pizzas into the pre-heated oven until the cheese starts to brown, then remove, cut into slices and serve them up.