This recipe uses store-bought lavash—a thin, rectangular flatbread that’s a traditional part of Armenian cuisine—as a base for a cheesy, just-a-little-bit spicy pizza that’s perfect for lunch or a shareable snack.
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What You’ll Need
1 (12-by-9-inch) lavash bread
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup shredded cooked chicken (from rotisserie chicken or from leftovers)
2 tablespoons Frank’s hot sauce (or other not-too-spicy hot sauce)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
¾ cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (3 ounces)
½ cup baby spinach, chopped
Learning Moment
Math (Measurement, Geometry):
This recipe calls for a rectangular lavash bread that is about 12 inches by 9 inches in size. Before brushing the lavash with oil in step 1, have kids use a ruler to measure the length and width of their lavash in inches or centimeters (it’s okay if it has slightly different dimensions than the recipe calls for). Once kids know the length and width of their rectangular lavash:
- Ask kids: Do you know how to calculate the area of a rectangle? (Answer: Multiply the length by the width. Area is measured in square inches or square centimeters.)
- Have kids calculate how many square inches or centimeters make up the area of their flatbread. (For example, if their flatbread measures 12 inches by 9 inches, the area is 108 square inches.)
- Ask kids if they can identify any other rectangles in the kitchen? (Examples: Baking sheet, cooling rack, cutting board, oven door, refrigerator door, freezer door)
- While the flatbread is baking or cooling, have kids calculate the area of any of the other rectangles they can find in the kitchen. Ask kids: Which one had the largest area? The smallest area?
Take It Further
Social Studies (History):
Buffalo sauce is a combination of vinegary, not-too-hot hot sauce—often Frank’s Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce—and melted butter. Ask kids: How do you think buffalo sauce got its name?
Explain that it’s not from buffalo the animal, but from the city of Buffalo, New York. That’s where two restaurants—Anchor Bar and John Young’s Wings & Things—first started to use this spicy sauce to coat fried chicken wings (all the way back in the 1960s!). Both restaurants prepared their wings a bit differently, and nobody knows for certain who invented them first. The snack became so popular and the sauce so beloved that the City of Buffalo has celebrated Chicken Wing Day on July 29th every year since 1977, and holds an annual Buffalo Wing Festival every fall. For many years, buffalo wings were a dish you could only get in the New York area, but over time, they spread all over the country. To learn Anchor Bar’s buffalo wing origin story (and how popular the wings are today) check out this video. To hear why John Young’s Wings & Things might deserve the credit, watch this video.
Today, you can find lots of other buffalo-flavored things besides chicken wings on restaurant menus and in grocery stores, such as pizza, crackers, chips, and pretzels! Ask kids: What other foods do you think would taste good with buffalo sauce?
