How To Make Mexican Pizza: Quick Tips
Pizza is one of the most versatile and yet convenient food choices you can have. It can be as simple as a cheese pizza or as elaborate as a belly-busting meat lover's variety. But as the world has become smaller, pizza has been also embraced and tweaked to adapt to different cultures and cuisines other than Italian. In the melting pot of cultures that is the US, fusion food has also included pizza. One popular adaptation is the Mexican pizza, tossing beans and meat into a tortilla dough, and delivering the particular zing that everybody enjoys in Mexican food. Are you getting curious? Here's how to make Mexican pizza.
What you Need to Make Mexican Pizza
Ingredients:
- 1 pound ground beef
- 16-ounce can of refried beans
- Taco seasoning (one 1 ounce pack)
- 16-ounce of canned red enchilada sauce
- 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
- 6 flour tortillas
- Half a cup of water
- vegetable oil
For Toppings:
- 1 diced tomato
- 1 green onion
- 1 small can of sliced olives
Easy Steps on How to Make Mexican Pizza
We know you're excited, so here are the steps on how to make Mexican pizza:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Meanwhile, heat beef in a large skillet or pan over medium heat. Remove excess fat after the beef is cooked. Then, add taco seasoning and water and bring to a boil. Once it’s boiling, reduce the heat by lowering the flame. Let it simmer for ten minutes, then turn off the stove.
- Take another skillet for the flour tortillas. Drizzle oil on the skillet on medium heat, and then place a tortilla. Crisp the tortilla by flipping from one side to another for three to four minutes. What you want is a crisp, light, golden brown tortilla. Do this one tortilla at a time and set aside when done.
- Heat refried beans in a lightly oiled skillet. You can also transfer the beans in a bowl and pop it in the microwave.
- After heating the beans, take the tortillas, and spread a generous layer of refried beans on each piece.
- On top of the beans, spoon and apply another generous layer of ground beef.
- After the beefy layer, cover this with another tortilla and spread the enchilada sauce. This would take about two to three tablespoons to cover the whole piece.
- Top the enchilada sauce with the shredded Mexican cheese blend. You can add more pepper jack cheese or cheddar cheese. Whatever you fancy.
- Add the tomatoes and sprinkle green onions and olives as a final garnish.
- After making a sufficient batch, assemble these Mexican pizzas on a baking sheet. Spray the baking sheet with a non-stick spray so that you are spared from a messy tray. Bake for eight to ten minutes.
- When the cheese has melted or is bubbly over the tortilla, remove from the oven. You are ready to serve.
Aside from these steps on how to make Mexican pizza, you can also choose to make your taco seasoning and refried beans so that you cut on salt and preservatives.
For refried beans, pinto beans are traditionally used, although you can certainly go for black beans. The term refried is a direct translation of how the dish is called in Spanish -- 'frijoles refritos.' But refritos does not mean refried. Instead, it is a Spanish term for 'well-fried'.
The first step is to rinse the beans clean. Then, soften them in four quarts of water either in a pot or a pressure cooker. If cooking in a pot, let the beans boil over for two and a half hours. Using a pressure cooker, on the other hand, cuts down the process to thirty minutes approximately.
When the beans are soft, drain all the liquid and set aside. Sauté onions in oil on a skillet over medium heat until these are translucent. Then put in the cooked beans and mash them well. Add 1/4 cup of water to help squish the beans into a puree of sorts. Keep the mixture from drying out by moistening with water as you mash along. For added flavor, you can incorporate cheese into the mash. Your refried beans are ready when the cheese has melted well into the blend.
If you also plan to do the taco seasoning yourself, you will need:
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon of sea salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Conclusion
By simply mixing all these ingredients together in a small bowl, you can develop a great flavor. You can transfer the leftover mixture in an airtight container and store it for future use. It's a great addition to your spice rack, especially if you love Mexican cuisine. The kick of cumin and chili best characterizes the typical smokey, spicy Mexican flavors. So, make it Mexican for your next pizza fix, now that you have learned how to make Mexican pizza quite well. Here's how to learn more about Mexican pizzas.
