Pizza Time

Mmm! Pizza! One of my favorite foods. It's definitely one of Kellan's favorites too. In fact, Pizza Time is the name of a song he just 'wrote' a couple of days ago. It goes: "Pee-ha eyemmm! Pee-ha eyemmm! Pee-ha eyemmm!" Genius. The chorus is also the lyrics. Top that, Bono.

So, on to the original reason for this post... I made up another new recipe! Which for me, is big. I'm such a Type A that I rarely deviate from a recipe, let alone make up my own.

I give you -- Huevos Rancheros Pizza!

*Note: Do not let the crust scare you.

Pizza Crust:

1 1/3 cups warm water

3 Tbs. olive oil

One 1/4 oz. pkg. active dry yeast

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. salt

a little extra olive oil to grease a bowl

In a stand mixer, place the warm water, olive oil and yeast. Process for 30 seconds to combine. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes, or until foamy. Add both types of flour and salt, and allow mixer to blend ingredients. Once it forms a ball, turn the mixer on medium high to knead the dough for about five minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl with a little olive oil, transfer the ball of dough to the bowl, and roll around inside the bowl to thoroughly coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with a clean towel, place it in a warm place, and allow it to rise for one hour or until doubled in size. Then punch it down and turn it out onto a floured work surface. Knead it a few times, place the bowl on top, and allow it to rest for about 20 minutes. Then you're ready to roll it out and put it on a baking sheet or pizza stone. Or, you can just buy a pre-made crust. But this is not hard, I promise!

Pizza toppings and sauce:

1 medium onion, diced

1 cup salsa

8 oz. can tomato sauce 

1 Tbs. dried oregano

3-4 Tbs. carrot puree (optional)

1/2 of a 15 oz. can of black beans

2-3 eggs

1/2 jar of roasted red peppers or 1-2 roasted red peppers, chopped 

2-3 cups (or 12 oz. bag) of shredded Mexican blend cheese

1 tsp. dried cumin

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/2 garlic powder

salt and pepper

Set oven to 450 degrees. Set a medium-sized saucepan on medium heat with a drizzle of oil. Dice onion and place in saucepan. Saute until translucent. Add salsa, tomato sauce, dried oregano and carrot puree (if using -- if you're not adding carrot, you may want to add a little more salsa). Add cumin and chili powder. Allow to simmer for about 5-7 minutes. While it simmers, chop roasted red peppers and roll out dough.

Top dough with a thin layer of olive oil. Spread sauce on pizza. Sprinkle on the cheese and roasted red peppers. Put pizza in oven and set a timer for 20 minutes.

Rinse out and quickly dry the saucepan. Put it back on a medium heat burner, with a drizzle of oil. Lightly scramble the eggs in a separate bowl and open the can of beans. (Put half in a container in the fridge -- you won't need all of them.) Put the beans in the saucepan and cook for 2 minutes. Add eggs and garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook long enough for the eggs to scramble. Open the oven (carefully!) and spoon the egg/bean mixture on the pizza. At this point, there should be only about 10 minutes left on the timer.

Ta da -- you have a delicious pizza!

I highly recommend making the pizza dough yourself. With a stand mixer and a little time, it's easy. A lot of the time it takes is just rising time. You don't have to do a darn thing but let it sit. 

I will say -- this recipe produces thick dough. If you like it thinner, then you'll just have to be better at rolling dough than I am. I'm terrible. And there's no way I'm going to try tossing it around my kitchen. However, this particular pizza works well with a thick crust because the toppings are pretty hearty. 

Also, I am not a fan of hot and spicy food. My husband is. So he tops his with Sriracha sauce. More salsa would also be a good topper -- perhaps some nice green salsa! Mmm!