Pizza Night - Spicy Garlic Chicken Pizza (Recipe #39) and Italian Dressing (Recipe #40)

Trent and I met my freshman year at the U.W. in Haggett Hall. Every Friday night was pizza night, which ranged from delicious to barely edible (depending on the cook and how long it had been under a heat lamp). In my sophomore year, I moved to Hansee Hall, where every room was a single and they had more convenient cooking facilities. It may have been there that I first cooked this pizza recipe, courtesy of the Boboli pizza shell wrapping via our friend Ryan (who jokingly predicted that we would get together weeks before we did).

This used to be in the rotation far more often, but now I generally prefer to make my own pizza crust. For nostalgia (and the Recipe Challenge's) sake, I went with the traditional version. And while in pizza nights of yore we didn't worry about vegetables too much, this time I made Italian dressing for our baby greens. I picked up the dressing recipe after buying a "gorgeous Manhattan Cruet" from my sister's Southern Living at Home party, when she lived in an apartment on Alki (I miss that apartment - it was great for watching fireworks displays - but I digress...) I will recycle the recipe, as I have plenty of cookbooks with alternate Italian dressing recipes that seem fairly similar.

Spicy Garlic Chicken Pizza

• 1/2 c. sliced green onions, divided
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 T. rice vinegar or white vinegar (I have always used the rice vinegar)
• 2 T. soy sauce
• 1 T. olive oil or vegetable oil
• 1/2 t. black pepper
• 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halve, cut into 1/2" pieces (with the super-sizing of chicken breasts, I usually use only two and have meat covering virtually every inch of the pizza)
• 1 T. cornstarch
• 1 Italian breadshell (12")
• 1/2 c. Monterey Jack cheese (shredded)
• 1/2 c. Mozzarella cheese (shredded)
• 2 T. pine nuts or sliced almonds (this was the first time ever using these - and I went with the almonds)

In a large bowl, combine 1/4 c. of the green onions with garlic and next 5 ingredients. Add chicken, stirring to coat. Let stand 30 min., then drain, reserving marinade. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large skillet, heat 1 T. oil and add chicken. Cook 3 min. or until done, stirring constantly (it always takes far longer than that for me). In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and reserved marinade; stir well. Add to chicken; cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Spoon over breadshell. Top with cheese and bake 12 min. Remove from oven; top with remaining green onions and nuts. Return to oven and bake 2 more minutes.

Italian Dressing (from Southern Living Ultimate Cookbook)

• 1/2 c. vegetable oil
• 2 T. white vinegar
• 2 T. lemon juice
• 1 t. sugar
• 1/2 t. dry mustard
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/4 t. dried Italian seasoning
• 1/8 t. pepper

Combine all ingredients in a jar. Cover tightly, and shake vigorously; chill thoroughly. Shake before serving. Serve over salad greens.