Southwestern Pizza

I didn't make the crust.  I could have.  I just didn't.  I was at Trader Joe's and having heard about their pizza crusts I decided to buy a few.  This one is the Garlic Herb crust.  Supposed to be low fat.  I guess it is, but it's still more calories/fat than I would eat for one meal.  I am dieting in case you don't know!

I had an itch to try something completely new.  Southwestern Pizza stuck out in my mind.  I found a recipe that looked easy enough and I had most of the ingredients already.

Jim said it was good!  And that we should make it again.  I added some shredded chicken for protein.

The funny looking green stuff is avocado cream.  Mmmmmmm.

So this pizza has... smashed black beans, tomatoes, red onions, chicken, corn, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, Mexican blend cheese, and spices.

I'm glad the avocado cream was there.  Without a traditional tomato sauce it would have been pretty dry otherwise!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Southwestern Pizza.

Pico de Gallo & Mexican Flatbread Pizza

I've never really paid attention when my Mom makes her Pico de gallo. DUMB.

Here's my train of thought of why I needed to make it all of a sudden. We went to a restaurant the other night and on the menu I figured the safest thing to eat was a veggie flatbread pizza. I only ate half and I had a side salad. It was SO GOOD. I figured it wouldn't be hard to make one at home so I looked up "flatbread pizza" in my good ol' Google Reader. Pioneer Woman had the first search result. Good ol' PW! Her version was a Mexican pizza, with beans, her pico de gallo, seasoned meat, cheese, etc. The only icky thing was that she used canned biscuits for her flatbread. I have been trying NOT to use processed food like that. I used Flatout flatbreads (1 WW point each!)






I didn't print the recipe, I just figured I had the idea. Well, Jim wanted to make the pizzas so they'd be ready when I got home. I told him how to make the pizzas. They were just okay. He did everything as I asked. I later found out that we should have used refried beans with salsa mixed in for the bottom "sauce". Our versions of the pizzas were too dry. I liked all of the flavors but I think it needed something else. I'll definitely try these again. Jim wasn't a fan, so maybe I'll make them when he's not home :)


We baked the flatout breads with a little olive oil for a few minutes in a 350 degree oven, this helped it get crispy first. The toppings went on and back in the oven for a few more minutes. Easy.

Click here for the stolen recipe for PW's Pico de gallo.

Click here for the stolen recipe for PW's Mexican flatbread pizzas.

Pizza

I made this pizza in March. I received Pioneer Woman's book for Christmas and one of the recipes I knew I wanted to try was her pizza crust. We love to make a pizza around here but we always use the refrigerated, "fresh" (processed) crusts from the grocery store. I guess it is still better than Pizza Hut or somewhere.

The pizza crust was VERY easy to make with my electric mixer. I ended up freezing half of the dough for later use and made the other half the next day.

The first pizza- I made half with red sauce and half with pesto. The dough wasn't quite what I wanted. I thought it should have baked for longer but the toppings would burn.


So I decided that the next time I would prebake the crust for a few minutes and then add the toppings. Much better! I also brushed olive oil and salt on the crust before baking- it added a lot more flavor.



Click here for the stolen recipe.