Mexican Pizza

The recipe I chose today is something we all love. Taco Bell style Mexican Pizza is one of our very favorite Pizza. In Taco Bell, Mexican Pizzas are in layers. I am making them in 1 layer and using more veggies. I am sharing vegetarian version by using just the beans (usually they use beef in this at taco bell) in the Mexican Pizza. Making these Mexican Pizzas at home is very easy.

Crusts for pizza: Tortilla crusts can be made days ahead of time. If you are planning to make Mexican Pizza on the weekend, you can make the crusts sometime on the weekdays. This helps make the process easier on preparation day. I am able to get the perfectly crisped up tortillas using stove top. Heat some oil in a wide pan, add punctured or lightly slit tortillas and fry them both sides till golden brown. You can use oven also to crisp tortillas. But they may taste more like toastadas.

Refried Beans: I am using home made refried beans. You can use store bought refried beans, but make sure you buy the ones that specifically say ‘vegetarian’ on them. They add Lard (fat from the abdomen of the pig) to refried beans hence buying fat free and vegetarian beans is important if you are a vegetarian.

Cheese: I used the Mexican blend cheese for the Mexican pizza. You could use any cheese of your choice, but not mozzarella as it won’t be the right texture for this.

Making Mexican Pizza

PREP TIME: 10 MINS  COOK TIME:10 MINS TOTAL TIME: 20 MINS  COURSE: MAIN COURSE  CUISINE: MEXICAN SERVINGS : 2

Ingredients

• onions – 1sm, finely chopped
• lettuce, finely chopped
• tomato – 1, finely chopped, removed seeds and pulp
• cilantro
• green bell pepper/capsicum – 1/2, finely chopped
• tortillas – 4, deep fried to make crust
• oil to fry totillas
• taco sauce

Step by step photo instructions

1. Punch tortillas with fork and knife before frying. Punching keeps tortillas from puffing up. Heat some oil(just the quantity to dip tortilla) in the wide pan. Deep fry tortillas both sides till they are golden brown. Press them if they are puffing up (see the pic below). You can make crusts days before making Mexican pizza.

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2. Place tortillas on the paper napkin after frying to absorb excess oil. Now they are ready to make pizza.

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3. Cut onions, tomato, lettuce, capsicum and cilantro. Mix onions and cilantro. Remove seeds and pulp from tomatoes. Get Refried Beans or one pot Refried Beans (2nd type in one pot refried beans) and cheese ready.

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4. Assembling: Spread a thin layer of beans on the crust, then sprinkle onions, capsicum, lettuce, tomatoes and cheese. Microwave it for 1 min or until cheese melts for quick pizza or use oven to make it. Slice the pizza to serve.

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5. Garnish with Taco Sauce on top.

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Tips

1. If you don’t like the veggies, you can use salsa instead of veggies.
2. If using salsa, use enchilada sauce also as a layering. In this case, take 1 crust with beans, top it with 1 more crust with enchilada sauce, salsa and cheese.