Indian Chicken Pizza

Pizza is one of those things that can be a little tricky to fit in when you are counting your calories. The killer is the crust. We had gotten lazy and were using a very good store bought dough, but after looking at the calories I knew that wasn't going to work anymore. Our homemade crust is a little better and we usually just top it with fresh tomatoes, a few slices of pepperoni and mozzarella. Matt wanted a change up, so since we had some leftover roast chicken, an Indian pizza seems in order.

The trick was to create a sauce that wasn't too high in calories but still full of flavor. We used some canned tomatoes as the base and then layered in the flavors of garam masala and ginger. Yogurt and just a touch of half and half give it some creaminess. I thought the yogurt would have enough tartness, but a little lemon juice added just the right about of freshness and acidity which I think is a good counterpoint to the garam masala.

This was a great treat, and at 700 calories a serving it is a treat. Still, you do get half a pizza here which is a lot of food. I think you could serve 3 people with it really which would cut the calories down to 467.

Indian Chicken Pizza

1 c crushed or diced tomatoes
1 t tomato paste
1 t half & half (you can use cream or milk I just had half and half on hand)
4 oz plain non-fat yogurt
1/4 t lemon juice
1/4 t ground ginger
1/2 t garam masala
salt
1/2 c sliced red onion
2 T chopped cilantro
4 oz cooked chicken meat, chopped or shredded
4 oz part-skim mozzarella, grated

1 pizza crust (We use 1/2 of this recipe from Wisebread to make one pizza. It makes a wet dough, but we find that gives the best texture. Resist the urge to add too much extra flour.)

Preheat oven to 450F.

In a food processor or small chopper, puree the tomatoes with the tomato paste. Stir in the half & half, yogurt, lemon juice, ginger, garam masala and a pinch of salt. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. (I thought the garam masala tasted a little strong, but cooked with the other ingredients it was perfect.)

Spread your dough out on a baking sheet sprayed with a cooking spray. Top with sauce, onion, chicken, cilantro and mozzarella.

Bake until the crust is brown and the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Makes 2 servings (about 8 slices of pizza, it could easily become 3 servings)
The pizza crust is about 391 calories per serving. The toppings are about 310 per serving.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted. © 2007-2013 Kathy Lewinski