Hellllllo, everybody! So, as you may or may not know, every February my family and I go back to my brothers homeland: the caribbean. Well, he wishes. However, we really do go and his absolute favorite thing besides the conch fritters is the jerk chicken. Jerked chicken is just chicken that has been extremely seasoned in a bunch of different herbs and spices. So, this year, a few months after we got back from vacation, Mike and I decided we were going to make our own pizza one day. Rather than typical cheese or pepperoni, we decided to venture out of our comfort zones and try something new. Alas, caribbean jerk chicken pizza was born, and has held its spot as Mike's favorite food, and a staple in his diet, since. Here we go!
First, we're going to start with the sauce. I chose to make a home made sauce, but if you'd like to use pre-made, feel free. I used a can of the hunt's plain sauce and added my own seasonings and herbs. Minced garlic, onion powder, bay leaves, scallions, and fresh cut parsley should get the job done. Let this simmer for about an hour so that the flavors can all be absorbed by the sauce. Below, I show you a simple way to crush garlic rather than just putting minced garlic in, the oils come out more when it's crushed and it becomes way more flavorful. All you have to do is mince the garlic, then sprinke some sea salt on it, which will add traction as you're dragging your knife through the minced garlic.
While the sauce is simmering, you'll want to work on chopping up all your toppings. Above is some orange bell peppers. I find that using a santoku knife is best for this dish becauce it is so univeral that you'll be able to use it on all of the toppings except the chicken.
Chop up some red onions next. In the video below, I show you a quick way to chop up onions into a uniform size. Simply chop on side off just enough so that it can rest flat on the cutting board. Then, slice it vertically, but not all the way through so that it is still held together. Then, slice it horizontally, but once again not all the way through. Then you can just slice it and it will be a dice. Hopefully the video below helps you understand more.
Next, the mango. A lot of people actually arent sure what to do with a mango, what parts are edible, and how to cut it. So, I figured id film a video of me cutting it just for reference.
Finish chopping your tomatoes, and dicing up your sun dried tomatoes. Then, you want to filet your chicken breasts and slice them into thin strips. I find that a paring knife works best for this. I then decided to sauté them in order to ensure that they would be fully cooked since the heat from a grill comes from the bottom rather than a convection oven in which the heat is coming from both the top and the bottom. Also, the juices that come out of the chicken will help the jerk seasonings adhere to it.
And now, onto the jerk seasoning. Its a blend of thyme, a little bit of sugar, pepper, a little bit of salt, nutmeg, all spice, paprika, cayenne and garlic powder. About a teaspoon to a tablespoon or two of each depending on the potency of the spice.
Once you have all of your toppings laid out, and the chicken has been fileted and mixed with some jerk seasoning, you can start stretching out your pizza dough.
I reccomend using cornmeal rather than flour when rolling out your dough because it doesn't dry it out as much, and when you cook it, you dont get that chalky taste that cooked flour can sometimes cause.
Once it's all rolled out if should look something like this. I smoothed it out a little more before putting it on the grill, but you get the gist of it.
Next, place the rolled out dough on the hot grill and start to assemble your pizza. This makes it so much easier than having to assemble it on a cookie sheet and slide it off onto the grill.
Then, you want to close the lid of the grill and let it cook for 10 to 15 minutes.
When its done, it should look something like this. If you try it out, comment below and let me know how you like it!
Until next time,
K
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