Mexican Pizza. Meatless & fabulous.

I’m always looking for fun pizza recipes.  I wanted to do a meatless version combining our favorite taco favorites.  I struggled with what I wanted to use for the base and came up with a wonderful cilantro pesto.  From there we topped it with our favorite taco toppings sans the meat.  All on a lovely whole wheat crust.  Delectable!

Pizza Dough Ingredients:

1 c whole wheat flour (I use King Arthurs)
1.5 c all purpose unbleached flour (King Arthur)
2 and 1/4 tsp of yeast
1/2 tsp of sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil
Cornmeal, for sprinkling

Directions:

Mix the sugar into the warm water. Stir to dissolve. Then sprinkle the yeast on top and let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes. Pour into your mixer bowl. Then add flours, salt and olive oil. Combine. Knead the dough (with your mixer attach the dough hook) for 8 minutes. Then place the dough in a bowl that has been sprayed with a nonstick olive oil spray. Let rise for one hour.

Punch down. Then divide the dough in half. Turn out onto a flour surface and roll until you achieve the desired thickness. This crust is great rolled out really thin.  I then prick the dough with a fork all over the surface.  Brush olive oil on top and sprinkle with your favorite pizza herbs (I use a mix of Italian seasonings).  Bake for about 5-7 minutes or until lightly golden.  Remove and top with sauce and your favorite toppings. Sprinkle the cornmeal onto your peel before you place in the oven for easy sliding.

Please note: I preheated my oven at 425 degrees for one hour with my pizza stone. I pre-bake the crust for 5-7 minutes.  I then topped my pizza and grilled it at 450 degrees for until the crust was golden and the cheese had melted perfectly.

Cilantro Pesto Recipe:

2 cloves of garlic
1/2 of a jalapeño
1 cup of loosely packed cilantro leaves
1 cup of loosely packed basil leaves
1/4 cup of olive oil (or a bit more)
Juice from one lemon
1/3 cup of whole raw almonds
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Into your food processor, blend the garlic and jalapeño.  Then add cilantro, basil, lemon juice and raw almonds.  Blend.  Then through the spout, slowly drizzle the olive oil.  This should help the paste turn into a creamier consistency.  Then season with salt and pepper.

Pizza toppings:

I pre-cook my crusts until just lightly golden on a pizza stone.  See the dough recipe above.

On the pre-cooked dough, I add a thin layer of pesto.  On top of that I added fresh corn removed from the cob, one green pepper chopped, two roasted red peppers, olives, black beans (washed/drained), green onions and some Mexican blended cheese.  Use what you love and have on hand.  Whatever your favorite taco toppings are or go crazy with it.  It’s all up to you!  Bake for 6-8 minutes.  Enjoy!!!

 

— Knead to Cook

Comments

  1. So beautiful! I love the combination of toppings — and meat free? PERFECT!

    • And you totally don’t miss the meat! Of course, for a meat version – lean ground beef or turkey would be perfect as well. Thanks for popping by. oxoxo Robin

  2. This pizza looks amazing and I am loving the pesto recipe! Beautiful presentation :)

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