Pizza with an Indian Flair

I have a guilty pleasure.  Food Network television!  If the kids aren't otherwise occupying the tv, food network it is.  My husband and I got into Next Food Network Star again this season even though early on in the show I am so uncomfortable watching these poor contestants try to work in front of the camera.  I was Team Herb (hello, he's cute, personable, cute, buff and did I mention cute), but I knew Aarti would win as her theme was so interesting and very unique from other shows already on the network.

On the episode where the finalists had to film their pilot, I was so taken by Aarti's pizza recipe that I had to give it a go.  I don't care for prosciutto though, so mine uses shrimp.

The pizza tasted so incredibly good.  The spice is not a hot spicy, but a very subtle warm kind of heated flavor (if that makes any sense) which lingers a while after you've eaten, and I cannot begin to tell you how good the paneer tastes with the chutney sauce.  I highly recommend bringing these flavors together.  We will be using this again.

What was so exciting too about this pizza was working with new ingredients!!  I love picking up new stuff at the store to "play" with.  Here's what we have today:

I know, I know, homemade chutney is easy to make.  BUT, I've worked with mangoes before and have vowed never to do it again.  They are a total pain in the butt!  The paneer (which took trips to two supermarkets to find - I totally should've known to go straight to Whole Foods) freaked me out a bit as it does not melt so it resembled tofu.  But it browned nicely and had a wonderful flavor and texture.

Shrimp Pizza with Spicy Mango Chutney Sauce

whole wheat pizza dough
6 tbsp spicy mango chutney (I didn't make this myself)
2 cups tomato sauce (this I did make myself)
1 lb shrimp, cleaned and deveined and sauteed
1/2 block paneer, in pieces
1/4 tsp cumin
red pepper flakes, to taste
grated Parmesan cheese, optional
cornmeal for stone or baking sheet

Heat oven to 450.  Sprinkle cornmeal on your stone or baking sheet and spread the dough.  Let it rest and come to room temp.

To make your sauce, heat the chutney and tomato sauce over medium heat and stir to combine.  Top dough with your prepared chutney sauce and the sauteed shrimp.  As per a comment on my previous shrimp pizza post by Stephen C, I left them a tad undercooked so they will finish while the pizza cooks without getting rubbery.  Thanks Stephen!  Sprinkle on the paneer pieces and top with red pepper flake, cumin and parm (if desired).

Cook and eat!  Unfortunately my dough decided to stick to the stone today.  Badly.  In all my years of pizza making, this is a first.  I think I went too heavy on the sauce and it soaked through and stuck.  So please, heavily cornmeal your stones people and be careful with the sauce so you don't end up eating shrimp chutney pizza mash like we did.  Thankfully, it tasted good and I did manage to get two nearly perfect slices.

It's an adults only night so when I passed this wine at Whole Foods, I couldn't resist.  The name explains my life!  :)  Since I know nothing of explaining wine flavors, notes, etc., I'll just tell you I liked it.  And it was on sale.  Woohoo!

Also decided to try out a new chocolate.  The chocolate bar display at Whole Foods is so interesting.  So many neat flavors to try (similar to their immense wall o' nutrition bars).  This one is coconut curry in milk chocolate.  It was different.  Seriously, it tasted like the chicken tikka I had for lunch but yet there was a desserty quality to it.  Not sure I like it but I don't hate it.  I could still feel the curry on the back of my throat several minutes after I had a bite.

And there we have it.  I lovely, romantic dinner for two.  Only, the Mr. got stuck at work so I ate alone (and enjoyed every minute of it).

I'm anxious to see what the new Aarti Party has in store.  It is a great idea for a show - a little flavor of India in your everyday dishes and this recipe certainly didn't disappoint.  Guilty tv pleasures anyone?