Enchilada Pizza

Arribaaaaaaa! Ay ay ay ay ay! It's Cinco de Mayo time and you KNOW you can't deny your love for Mexican food! My parents were born and raised in Mexico and followed the American dream to Chicago where my sister and I were raised. Needless to say, we grew up on everything delicious Mexico had to offer, what with the large Hispanic community and of course, my mom's home cooking! It may sound terrible, but as much as I love to cook, I don't make many things with the Mexican flavor. I let my mom do all the cooking when I was younger so it didn't stick with me too much (except maybe around my hips). When I got out an on my own, I stuck with the American cuisine - it seemed much easier to me, so don't be surprised that this "Mexican" dish isn't even Mexican -  in a sense. First of all, it's PIZZA. Second, it's more Tex-Mex than anything. I combined two of my favorites into one dish and I have been making this for several years now when we want a little different twist on our pizza.

Ingredients:

For the crust:
1 cup of warm water
1 package of dry yeast (I used Red Star Premium Silver yeast)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1/4 cup of olive oil
3 cups of flour
Cornmeal for dusting your pizza pan/stone

*You are more than welcome to purchase pre-made pizza dough or pre-made crust, but I prefer homemade.

Sauce and toppings:
1 can Old El Paso Enchilada sauce (You can get mild or as hot as possible depending on your taste!)
1 green bell pepper
1 4 oz can of sliced black olives
1 lb ground beef, browned and drained, seasoned to taste - I used some garlic and onion powder
Kraft shredded mozzarella with a touch of Philly (it's my favorite!)
Kraft Shredded Taco cheese or Mexican blend - I used both

For the crust:
Pour a cup of warm water into a large stainless steel or ceramic bowl and pour yeast in. Allow to sit and dissolve for about 5 minutes. Whisk until completely dissolved. Add your salt, sugar, and oil and whisk together. Add your flour and knead until you have a ball of dough. If you are using a KitchenAid, use your dough attachment to mix the dough until everything is mixed. Take the dough out of the bowl so you can grease the bowl with a thin coating of olive oil. Place dough back in bowl and  cover with a kitchen towel. Set in a warm area to let the dough rise for about 45 minutes to an hour.

I warmed up my oven to 200 degrees and turned it off, then placed the bowl on the rack with the towel over it in the oven. Leave the oven door cracked as if you were broiling something. You want it warm, but you don't want to accidentally start baking your dough! After the dough has risen to about twice its size, punch it down, cover it up with the towel again, and place back in the oven for another 15 minutes or so.

Pull dough out of the oven and separate into two equal parts. You can make 2 12" pizzas with this recipe. Lightly flour a surface and begin to roll out your dough. You may flip over and roll the dough on the floured side to make it easy on rolling it out without it sticking. I used a pizza stone and a cookie pan for my pizzas and I loved the way it came out with both. Sprinkle cornmeal on your pizza pan or stone and carefully place your rolled out dough on top. Stretch to the edges and make a crust by folding over and pinching the edges.

For the pizza:
Pour about 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce on the dough and spread. You may add as much or as little sauce as you like. I sprinkled a little bit of mozzarella first, then added about 1/4 of the ground beef mixture, followed by some chopped green bell peppers and olives, as shown below. Top this with the shredded taco cheese and add more beef, bell pepper and olives. Sprinkle some more cheese on those toppings. I like to layer my toppings - a sprinkle of cheese/toppings/more cheese/more toppings. You will end up using half of your ingredients for each pizza (half a pound of beef, half bell pepper, and half a can of olives per pizza). Top your next pizza as you wish and bake at 325 for 25 minutes. Enjoy!

Thank you so much for looking! Now go bake something and spread some "delicioso"!