I have a love affair with cilantro and lime. I'll eat that combination almost anywhere. I would eat in a box. I would eat it with a fox! I would eat it here or there...I would eat it anywhere! See? I love it so much I'm willing to go all Dr. Seuss on you. I have a separate love affair with pizza. I may or not may be an eternal 5 year-old at heart. I may have lots of love affairs when it comes to food. Maybe 4 or 5 years ago I had the grand idea of united two of my loves in a cilantro lime chicken pizza. The results were fantastic. The recipe has been adjusted over the years and has ended up being simplified into one amazing pizza.
This recipe makes 2 large pizzas (because one would never be enough!)
Ingredients
2 prepared large pizza crusts
1 bunch cilantro
1 can green chiles (4 oz)
2 limes, juiced
4 cups mozzarella
1 chicken breast, cooked and diced
1 white onion, diced
Instructions
1. Combine the cilantro leaves, green chiles, and lime juice in a food processor or blender and let it whirl.
2. Spread the cilantro lime sauce over the prepared pizza crust.
3. Top with mozzarella.
4. Add onion, sprinkling all over, and the chicken breast.
5. Bake in an oven that is heated as high as it will go (mine is 500 degrees) on a pre-heated pizza stone for about 10-12 minutes, until the cheese gets beautiful brown bubbles on it.
1. Use a pizza stone. They are well worth the small investment and can be used for more than just pizza. In fact, I use mine almost every day making artisan bread, but that's another story.
2. Preheating is important. You aren't just preheating your oven, you have to preheat the stone. I give my pizza stone a minimum of 20 minutes in the oven to preheat. If I'm patient enough (and not too many children are whining for their dinner) I give it 30 minutes.
3. Learn how to get your pizza off the preparation surface and onto your pizza stone. Go heavy on the cornmeal under your crust and slide quickly with one flick of the wrist. It sounds hard because it is. Practice is the only way to make perfect. Many curse words have been cast around in my house learning to slide pizzas. While practice has improved my "pizza slide" dramatically, I highly recommend using my "perfect frozen pizza" method and then you'll never have to worry about getting your pizza onto the stone again. Plop that baby on and never look back (except when you are staring through the oven window salivating because the delicious smell filling your house is becoming too much to handle)
4. Cook until the cheese starts to brown. Don't worry about the crust underneath burning. Go by the cheese. When the cheese starts to bubble and brown you have reached the point of deliciousness.
