Best Pizza, Ever!

Regular visitors to Feral Cooks know that I’m a fan of good (and not-so-good) pizza. Having become frustrated with frozen pizzas* and overpriced, underwhelming pizzeria pies I’ve begun making my own pizzas from scratch more often, dispensing with traditional flavors and going for something different.

With that, the other week I set out to make a Thai pizza that included authentic Thai flavors in the toppings, and I feel that I landed on a winner. This pizza includes some of the best Thai flavors, including green curry, marinated beef and hot and spicy vegetables.

This concoction is easy to make, too, and it doesn’t require a ton of exotic ingredients. Actually, the marinated beef is a recipe in its own, and is perfect for a rice bowl dish. The recipe for the beef was found here.

One note before getting to the recipe: the pizza sauce needs to be made at least a few hours ahead of time (I recommend a day) because it needs to cool enough to remove the oil. More on that in the instructions.

*Don’t be fooled, I still make them when I don’t feel like cooking.

What you’ll need:

• Pizza crust (pre-made or home made) I pre-bake my homemade crust to ensure a good crunch without overcooking the toppings.
• A few ounces of mild shredded cheese (I used Adobo for this recipe)
• A bunch of basil or holy basil leaves (enough to cover the crust is best)

For the pizza sauce:

• 1 14-oz can coconut cream (preferred) or coconut milk
• 2-3T green curry paste (any off-the-shelf brand will do)

For the stir-fry toppings:

• A few green onions or scallions, chopped into 1-inch lengths
• A few ounces of raw oyster mushrooms, cleaned and cut into bite-size pieces
• 1-2 Thai chilies, red or green, deseeded and thinly sliced

For the beef:

• 8-12 oz raw, lean beef sliced into bite-size pieces (the pieces I used in the photos were too big)
• 2T coriander seeds, cracked
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1t lime juice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• pinch of powdered ginger

What to do (photos at the end of the post):

For the pizza sauce:

1. Remember, this process takes the longest and should be made a day ahead of time. Add the coconut cream or coconut milk to a fry pan (nonstick is preferred) and warm it using medium heat.
2. Add the curry paste and let it warm within the coconut cream, gently mixing until it is completely dissolved.
3. Cook the mixture at a low simmer, until the coconut cream thickens like a thin syrup and there is oil floating on top. This can take a couple of hours or more, depending on the temperature at which it is cooked. Keep an occasional eye on it so it doesn’t overcook.
4. When cooked enough, pour into a deep and narrow bowl with minimal surface area. Refrigerate.
5. As the mixture cools, the oil will rise to the top and congeal, allowing you to easily remove almost all of it. Return to the refrigerator until making the pizza.

For the meat:

1. To slice your meat, freeze it until slightly hard, then slice it thinly. Keep the pieces small. The pieces I used were a bit too big, making it difficult to bite into a piece of the pizza without pulling the whole piece of meat off.
2. When your meat is sliced, mix all of the marinade ingredients and add the marinade and meat to a bowl or freezer bag. Let marinade for one hour, at room temperature (not more) or a couple of hours refrigerated. Set aside when ready.

For the vegetables:

1. When the meat is marinating, prepare and cook the vegetables. I cooked them in a nonstick fry pan, but a wok works just fine.
2. Clean and prep the veggies, then stir fry them in a bit of high-heat oil until done. Set aside to cool.

Now for the assembly and cooking: Please note that it’s best to assemble in this order so certain ingredients don’t overcook and others don’t undercook.

1. Prep your crust and spoon/spread a thin layer of the chilled coconut milk-curry mixture evenly across the crust. It may be thick and a bit lumpy, but that’s perfect.
2. Next, lay out the basil leaves across the top of curry sauce in a single layer. I covered the entire crust, but if you don’t have enough, it won’t be a problem.
3. When the basil is down, gently add the stir-fried vegetables without disturbing the basil leaves.
4. Next, add a thin layer of cheese over the vegetables. You could probably skip the cheese, but I like it as a way of “gluing” the ingredients together.
5. Add the marinated meat in a thin layer over the cheese. The meat needs to be on top to ensure that it cooks thoroughly.
6. Cook at 400-500 degrees until the crust is crispy and the meat is thoroughly cooked. If the crust begins to overcook before the meat is done, switch the oven to broil to quickly finish the meat.
7. Let cool for a bit on a rack before slicing and serving.

This is a memorable pizza that your family will want you to make again.