So let me say first that I absolutely love Mexican food. Aside from the taste itself, Mexican food reminds me of college. At least every other Friday, my best friends and I would go to the Mexican restaurant in our college town, order margaritas and food and stay there for hours. It was heaven. Mexican food will always remind me of those times. And also, honestly, I just love the way it tastes. So I came across this recipe for Mexican pizza on A Couple Cooks and I knew I had to try it.
the recipe
Makes 2 10-inch pizzas
2 crusts pizza dough
1 can no-fat refried black beans (makes enough for around 4 pizzas)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 small red onion
1 tomato
1 jalapeno pepper
2 handfuls fresh cilantro
2 handfuls frozen corn
Mexican cheese blend
Kosher salt
1. Place pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500 F.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the refried black beans with a bit of water to thin the consistency so that it is easily spreadable. Mix with 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1/4 teaspoon paprika, and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne.
3. Seed and dice the tomato. Finely chop the red onion. Chop the cilantro. Seed and dice the jalapeno.
4. When the toppings and oven are ready, shape the dough into a 10-inch round. Place the dough on a floured pizza peel or pull the pizza stone out of the oven and carefully place the dough on it.
5. Quickly assemble the pizza. Spread the bean mixture in a thin layer over the dough, sprinkle on as much cheese as you like, and add the red onion, tomato, jalapeno, corn, and cilantro. Sprinkle with kosher salt. If desired, brush a little olive oil on the crust to help it brown.
6. Transfer the pizza to the oven and bake until the cheese and crust are nicely browned, about 5 to 7 minutes.
substitutions
I had a couple for this one. Instead of pizza dough, I used pita bread. It works perfectly for a single sized pizza. I didn't have refried black beans so I just pureed whole black beans in a food processor. Worked fine. I did not use the jalapeno but I added green onions because I wanted to use them up. Instead of an actual Mexican cheese blend, I just mixed some cheddar and mozzarella together.
great with
This is a filling pizza, I think, so it stands well on its own.
the review
This is so yum. Seriously, I can't wait to make this again. It's easy to make and the combination of flavors was awesome. I love how this uses black beans as the "sauce" and I think the inclusion of the red onions gave it the perfect little kick without being overwhelming. Make this pizza, especially if you have a weird nostalgia thing with Mexican food, like I do. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
I happened upon this awesome blog a couple of weeks ago called A Couple Cooks. Most of the recipes are vegetarian, and they cook with natural ingredients. Everything looks pretty tasty. I spent an abnormally long amount of time one night going through every single recipe (literally) and pulling my favorites for my binder of recipes that I keep in my kitchen.
With that being said, I love pizza--who doesn't? Since I've never made pizza I don't eat it that often. But when I saw the recipe for these Roasted Red Pepper Pita Pizzas on A Couple Cooks, I thought to myself, why yes, I can totally handle that. The couple behind A Couple Cooks makes their own pita bread, which is impressive. I'm not quite there yet. Baby steps.
the recipe
Makes 4 pizzas
1 12-ounce jar roasted red peppers
1 jar oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes (with herbs, if possible)
Dried oregano
Monterrey jack cheese, shredded
4 whole grain pitas
Kosher salt
1. Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 450 F.
2. Drain the red peppers. Remove about one-half of a red pepper and cut it into thin strips to garnish pizzas.
3. In a food processor, place the remaining red peppers, 10 sun-dried tomatoes, and 1 tablespoon of the oil from the sun-dried tomato jar. Puree for 1 to 2 minutes until smooth.
4. On each whole grain pita, spread 1/4 of the red pepper sauce and shredded Monterrey jack cheese. Top with sliced red peppers, dried oregano and a bit of kosher salt.
5. Place the pizzas on the pizza stone (or a baking sheet) and bake until the cheese is melted, about 5 to 7 minutes.
substitutions
Well, to begin with, I did not buy roasted red peppers. Instead, I roasted my own. It was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be, and totally worth it. I also used sun-dried tomatoes without the oil, and instead just added a little olive oil for step 3 when you're making the sauce. Easy enough.
great with
Pizza stands great on its own, of course, but I had mine with a salad.
the review
Make these. Your taste buds will thank you. Okay, so really, these are awesome. Pita is a great alternative to pizza dough. The pita ends up tasting like a crispy, thin crust pizza, which is delicious. Also, the sauce on this was great. Admittedly, though I do eat tomato sauce, if I'm given a choice between that and something else, I'll pick the something else. This sauce is a great alternative. I will absolutely be making these pizzas again. I also can't wait to make other pizzas on pita. Excited!
1. Finely chop fresh basil leaves and sun-dried tomatoes, either in a food processor or by hand.
2. Assemble sandwich as follows: whole grain bread (butter side down), two pieces of provolone cheese, basil and sun-dried tomato spread, whole grain bread (butter side up).
3. Grill to golden perfection.
I believe I've mentioned that I come from a very Italian family, which means that we serve up pasta every single Sunday. Now don't get me wrong. I love pasta. But isn't it nice to do something with pasta besides just pouring a little tomato sauce on it? I recently got a new cookbook called Vegetarian: Tasty Recipes for Every Day, which has lots of tasty-looking pasta recipes in it. One Sunday, I decided to give the following a try.
the recipe
500 g (1 lb) cheese tortellini or ravioli
60 g (2 oz) butter
100 g (3 1/2 oz) walnuts, chopped
100 g (3 1/2 oz) pine nuts
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons cream
1. Cook the pasta in rapidly boiling water until al dente. Drain and return to the pan.
2. Heat the butter in a heavy-based pan until foaming. Add the walnuts and pine nuts and stir for 5 minutes, or until golden brown. Add the parsley, thyme and salt and pepper.
3. Beat the ricotta with the cream. Toss the sauce and pasta together and top with ricotta cream. Serve immediately.
substitutions
I don't typically buy tortellini or ravioli, so I just used plain rigatoni. I also did not have pine nuts, so I used some extra walnuts, and just a few cashews as well.
great with
Of course, pasta stands well on its own. However, I always love to have my pasta with a salad.
the review
I think the best way I can describe this dish is by outlining what I was thinking as I took my first few bites of this dish:
1st bite: Hmm, this is unusual.
2nd bite: It's not bad though.
3rd bite: It's actually pretty good.
4th bite: I think I burned the nuts.
This definitely has a different taste to it. I've never had pasta with a nut flavor before, and it's very interesting. I can definitely see why this is meant to be served with tortellini or ravioli--I think it really needs the cheese in those pastas to make the dish complete. I'm sure I'll be making this again, and I'll be using tortellini or ravioli next time I do.
And I won't burn the nuts next time either.
