Saucy Thai Chicken Pizzas

Soft opening night two: firefighters and industry. Thirty-two seats filled with the people who have fed my career and my cooking for twenty years — fire crews from Station 19 and across the battalion, Chief Martinez (retired now, eating brisket with the freedom of a man who no longer has to pass a fitness test), Hernandez (now a Lieutenant, still the man who brought arroz con pollo to my first Thanksgiving at the station), Travis (still at 19, still eating more than any human should, still the first person to say "you taught me to show up"). The industry side: restaurant owners, food suppliers, the ranch owner Bill from Prescott who tasted his own beef on my plate and said, "You made my cow famous."

The firefighters ate like firefighters — which is to say, they ate like people who have learned that a meal might be interrupted by an alarm at any moment and who therefore approach every plate with the urgency of a rescue. Three briskets gone in forty minutes. The ribs vanished. The green chile stew pots were empty. Travis had four plates. Hernandez had three. Chief Martinez had two and said, "Captain, you have built something that makes me proud to have served with you." I am not a captain anymore. I am a Battalion Chief, technically, though I have not been in a firehouse in months. But to Martinez, I will always be captain. And to me, she will always be chief. The titles we earn in fire stay with us forever.

Soft opening night three: media and VIPs. Thirty seats, Rachel from Phoenix New Times (covering the soft opening as a follow-up to her feature), three other food bloggers, the managing partner from the law firm, the tech CEO, and a collection of people Jessica has cultivated over six months of strategic relationship-building. The food went out. The cameras clicked. The phones photographed every plate. The brisket was Instagrammed forty-eight times before 7 PM. The commentary on social media was immediate and unanimous: Rivera's is the real thing.

One food blogger wrote: "If the opening is as good as the soft opening, Rivera's will be the best BBQ in the Valley within a year." I read this on my phone standing in the kitchen at 11 PM after the last guest had left and the dishes were done and the team was gone. I read it and I thought about Roberto at the cinder block grill in 1982. I thought about me at eight years old, standing on a milk crate, watching the fire. I thought about seven years of dreaming and one year of building and 148 pages of Manual and 100 training briskets and one perfect score and one community table and one sign that says JUST SHOW UP.

One week. Seven days. The fire is right. Just show up.

Three nights of soft opening, three rounds of the people who matter most walking through that door — and every one of them needed to be fed the way firefighters eat: urgently, gratefully, without ceremony. When I finally got home after night three and the phones stopped buzzing and the kitchen went quiet, I wanted to cook something for my own table that had that same energy: bold sauce, fast heat, built for sharing, nothing precious about it. These Saucy Thai Chicken Pizzas are what I made. Station food has always been about feeding whoever shows up, and after the week Rivera’s had, that felt exactly right.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 lb pizza dough, store-bought or homemade, divided in half
1/2 cup Thai peanut sauce, plus more for drizzling
2 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 cup shredded carrots
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon sriracha (optional)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lime, cut into wedges, for serving

Instructions

Preheat the oven. Set your oven to 425°F. If you have a pizza stone, place it on the center rack while the oven heats. Otherwise, lightly grease two large baking sheets.
Shape the dough. On a lightly floured surface, divide the dough in half. Roll or stretch each portion into a roughly 10-inch round about 1/4 inch thick. Transfer to the prepared baking sheets.
Brush and sauce. Brush each dough round lightly with olive oil across the entire surface. Spread 1/4 cup of peanut sauce over each round, leaving about a 1-inch border at the edge.
Add toppings. Distribute the shredded chicken evenly over both pizzas. Scatter the mozzarella over the chicken, then layer the sliced red bell pepper on top.
Bake. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the crust is golden at the edges and the cheese is melted and starting to bubble. Rotate the pans halfway through if your oven runs unevenly.
Add fresh toppings. As soon as the pizzas come out of the oven, scatter the shredded carrots, green onions, cilantro, and chopped peanuts over the top. Drizzle with additional peanut sauce and sriracha if you want the heat.
Slice and serve. Cut each pizza into 6 slices and serve immediately with lime wedges on the side. Squeeze lime over individual slices before eating.

Nutrition (per serving)

Saucy Thai Chicken Pizzas — Feed the Crew That Shows Up for You