Lebanese Bread Pizza

Alas, a savoury recipe!

I was at school last last friday and they were selling pizza for 2 dollars a slice. But they weren't ordinary pizzas with a thick, tough doughy base. No, they had a crispy thin base that broke off like Doritos. On top was some tomato pase, chicken pieces, onions, cheese and I think dried oregano. I drizzled mine with sweet chilli sauce, but I think I had forgotten how sweet sweet chilli sauce was. I could not taste anything but the sticky sweetness of the sauce, except for the occasional chicken piece. But the thin crispy base was enough to get me excited about making this pizza.

The problem with pizza recipes are that they tell you how to make your own pizza dough, and exactly what toppings to put on your base. I think the art of pizza is the fact that you can put almost anything on your pizza. So I have long given up searching for pizza recipes. I have one staple pizza dough recipe which came with my bread machine, and basically just top up with whatever we've got in the fridge. But since the base is premade (Lebanese bread), all  had to do was to get my mum to drive to the local store and buy some chicken and cheese.

I had read somewhere that you had to crisp the bread up first, then top, then bake. It said to grill on high for three minutes. Of all the five settings on my oven, I've only ever used one, conventional, so I was hesitant to try the grill setting. But I did, and I set it to the highest temperature and put 2 halves of bread on a foil-lined baking tray and put it in the oven. I then went to check the marinating chicken while my grandma sliced some onions. I can't cut onions because they make me cry alot. When the timer went off, it smelt like something had burnt, but I couldn't see because the light inside the oven went off. When I opened the door, I saw the bread was completely black and was on fire. As the smoke alarm went off, the tray was quickly rushed outside. We turned the fan on to let all the smoke come out.
 
All bakers have to have what they are baking catch on fire at least once. I'm glad I've had mine now, so it won't happen when I'm serving highly-anticipated guests at my restaurant in Paris. Hey, I've got dreams too!

Anyways, I ended up crisping the bread up in my sandwich press instead. I think it works better than the oven because it heats both sides of the bread evenly. I topped off each halve of bread with mushrooms, chicken marinated in BBQ sauce, onions, corn, Mozzarella and Tasty cheese, and dried oregano. Then I baked it in the oven once the smoke had gone. It was really good, but I wouldn't serve this to hungry workers, though. Now I know why you need such thick bases on pizzas - to be filling. There's just nothing there to eat, so I would only make it again for lunch or a snack.


Recipe

Note: This is only what I did. You can put whatever toppings you like.

Makes 4 slices of pizza

2 slices Lebanese bread, cut in half
150 grams dice chicken thighs
1/2 cup BBQ sauce or marinade
1/2 onion, sliced into rings
3/4 cup tomato paste or pasta sauce
1/2 cup corn kernels
1 cup Mozzarella cheese, grated
1 cup Tasty (cheddar) cheese, grated
Dried oregano


1. Place chicken pieces in a bowl and pour BBQ marinade on top. Stir to coat, and cover with cling wrap    and place in fridge. Marinade for 20 or more minutes.

2. Crisp up bread halves in sandwich maker or in a skillet, until hard.

3. Preheat oven to 200°C.

4. Briefly heat the chicken pieces in a pan until just cooked.

5. Divide tomato paste equally onto the bread. Divide onion, corn and chicken between the bread.

6. Top with cheese and oregano. Bake for 10-15 until cheese melts.

7. Eat immediately.