Mexican Pizza with Del Monte - Win a Gift pack and $25 Gift Card

Mexican Pizza with Del Monte – Win a Gift pack and $25 Gift Card

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Just wanted to share a recipe with you all for some interesting pizza.

On pizza night I like to make the pizza from scratch- we have a pizza stone and I like to make the dough. It takes a while, but with practice and patience, a great meal is worth the wait. (And it makes your house smell great all day long.)

Dough/Crust

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1 packet yeast

1/4 cup sugar

dash salt

at least 4 cups warm water, maybe a bit more

To make the dough you must give yourself 3-4 hours before cook time in order to get the perfect dough. First of all get 2 cups warm water, about the same temperature as bath water and mix in your sugar until it is dissolved. Once dissolved mix in the yeast packet and let it sit someplace dark and warm. Personally we use the microwave, but DO NOT put it on. Let the yeast sit for about 15 minutes until the yeast wake up and start bubbling and making a foam at the top of the water. At this point take your dry ingredients, the flour and the sale, mix, then add your yeast mixture. You will have to add more water. This is the part where you have to eye ball it. You want the dough to form a ball. This is also one of the fun parts of the recipe that kids can help with you want to mix it with your hands. We always end up having to add more water so its a good idea to start out with 4 cups of warm water so there isn’t a scramble to the sink with dough covered hands. If you don’t use all the water, don’t panic. Once your dough ball is formed, put it into a big bowl which has been greased with olive oil and put a warm damp towel over the top of it and let it sit in a quiet warm place for 2 hours. After two hours it is fun time again. Take out the dough, and it should be double about double its size now. Now punch and knead the dough, get the yeast working again. If your dough isn’t about twice the size, it might be too dry. Wet your hands and work the water it into the dough. Repeat of necessary Repeat until it is just barely sticky. Now cut your dough ball in half or thirds. Put each dough ball in a greased bowl with a warm wet towel over the top. Let the dough sit for about an hour, it should double in size again.

Toppings:

As your dough is making it final rest, get your toppings together. We always make one regular pizza and one unique one. We will discuss the unique Mexican pizza today.

Mexican Pizza toppings:

8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese

1 can Del Monte Petite Cut Diced Tomatoes with Chipotle Chilies

garlic powder

one small onion, cut up into small pieces

quarter cup oil

2 sausage links, cooked and cut into slices

First lets make our sauce. Put a bit of oil in the pan and fry up your onion with the garlic powder. Then add the sausage as well. Once the onions are starting to sweat add the tomatoes and let them simmer until it thickens up, about 20 minutes or so.

Pizza building time Put your oven on as high as it goes with your pizza stone in the oven during warm up.

Make sure you have a lot of space and are ready to make a huge mess. Now put a layer of flour on your surface and a rolling pin. Use the pin to roll out the dough. Once the pizza is to your desired thickness and size put olive oil along the top surface and slide onto your pizza stone. Let the dough cook to a light brown. You do not want the dough to be firm and hold up to moving around but not cooked all the way through… If that makes any sense. Pull out your crust and build the pizza, sauce first, then cheese on top. Try to keep your toppings even and about a half to quarter of an inch from the edge of the crust.