Mexican Pizza Recipe

An amazing burst of flavors and textures, this adaptation from a restaurant favorite of ours in the 80’s is easy and can be customized to suit your tastes. Most of our cooking is done with a pinch of this and a dash of that so as you follow along, feel free to put your personal touches on this great dish. (don’t count on leftovers)

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees

We use Mama Mary’s thin crust found in your grocery store or online. www.mamamarys.com This makes life so wonderful and easy but if you are a baker and enjoy the task of making your dough from scratch, please come for dinner next Friday night and bring a batch! Seriously, this Mama Mary’s par baked crust is such a no brainer that we have started experimenting on the grill and they hold up very well.

Pre bake your pizza crust just until heated and the exterior begins to toast, please take heed that they over bake very easily. Remove and begin topping the pizzas. This particular crust is best right on the oven rack but other brands or your own homemade may require a pizza or sheet pan.

If you wish to try this on the BBQ, preheat the BBQ to 400-450 degrees and then turn off all burners but one and turn down enough to maintain the temp – put the pizzas on the grate area with no lit burner (indirect heat) and use the BBQ like an oven. Watch your temps carefully as the BBQ tends to stay very hot and will easily burn your pizza very fast.

First layer: refried beans either pinto or black beans. I like to season them with some cumin and chipotle chili powder before spreading on the pizza crusts. Spread just like you would a pizza sauce and make sure you get a good base, not too thin, not to heavy.

Second layer: chopped grilled chicken or lean browned ground beef

Third layer: chopped sweet onion

Fourth layer: combo of shredded sharp cheddar and mozzarella

Fifth layer: finely chopped jalapenos (optional)

Bake the pie until the cheese starts to turn color and you get that beautiful golden crust. Use a pizza peel to remove the pizzas as they tend to be quite heavy.

Pop the pizzas on a cutting board and top generously with garden fresh chopped ripe tomatoes and chopped cilantro. Cut in to wedges and serve while hot. You may wish to top with sour cream or salsa but we like ours just the way it is.

Optional toppings: corn, chili flakes, chopped garlic, chopped zucchini, sweet red peppers, green peppers, hot chili peppers – use your imagination!

All the best,

Clark Williams