Mexican Pizza with Chicken and Chile Peppers

Mexican Pizza recipe with chicken and chile peppers.

Don’t tell anyone, but I was once madly in love with the Mexican Pizzas at Taco Bell. Haven’t been to Taco Bell in forever, but I still have that craving now and then. So I created a Mexican pizza recipe. My version is a lot plumper than Taco Bell’s…because I’ve loaded it up with chicken, black beans, and Hatch chiles.

Fresh Hatch chiles are typically available only in the fall, but that’s when I stock up, roast ‘em (or buy them freshly roasted) and freeze them. But if you don’t have a stash in your freezer, you can easily substitute the chile peppers of your choice.

At the Des Moines, Iowa Farmer’s Market—Juan O’Sullivan—roasts them before your very eyes in the fall. And he makes an amazing salsa. He also shares some of his Mexican recipes here.

Or try my Mexican pizza recipe. Just in time for Cinco de Mayo.

Mexican Pizza with Chicken and Hatch Chile Peppers

1 onion, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon coriander

2  cups green enchilada sauce

2 cups chopped cooked chicken (I used 2 chicken breasts from a deli roast chicken)

1 15-oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

2 medium tomatoes, chopped, or a handful of cherry tomatoes, quartered

4 hatch or Anaheim chile peppers, roasted, peeled, seeded, and chopped

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Three 8-inch flour tortillas

2 1/2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese

Optional toppings: chopped tomatoes, sour cream, fresh cilantro

Lime wedges (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cook onion in hot olive oil over medium heat about 4 minutes or until soft. Add garlic and tandoori seasoning; cook and stir for 1 minute more. Stir in 1 1/2 cups of the enchilada sauce, the chicken, black beans, tomato, salt, and pepper. Cook and stir for about 5 to 10 minutes or until heated through and bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.

3. To assemble, spread  1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce on bottom of a 9-inch pie plate. Arrange one of the tortillas on sauce. Top with half of the chicken mixture. Sprinkle with 1 cup of cheese.

4. Top with another tortilla and remaining half of chicken mixture. Sprinkle with 1 cup of cheese. Top with last tortilla. Spread remaining 1/4 cup green enchilada sauce over tortilla.

5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until heated through, topping with remaining 1/2 cup cheese during the last 10 minutes of baking. Let stand on a wire rack for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. If desired top with chopped tomatoes, sour cream, and/or cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.

Boston Cream Pie

The Boston Marathon tragedy touched so many lives and hearts. The ripple of anguish and anger spread across the country, but the stories of humble heroes who helped saved lives grounded most of us with a sense of the true American spirit.

As I’ve reminded others—and myself—there are so many more good, kind, loving people in this country and in this world than there are bad guys. So let’s make sure to recognize the good guys. My hope is that kindness will prevail.

My baking beauty friend, Michelle Medley, suggested baking Boston Cream Pies to deliver to my local first responders. And so I baked last night. Thank you to the Milwaukee Police Dept., District 6, for doing your job day after day after day.

Boston Cream Pie is actually a cake, but it is believed that it is called “pie” because early bakers used pie tins to bake cakes in before cake pans were created.

My Boston Cream Pie recipe was a combo of a homemade buttery sponge cake and a “cheater” quickie filling and an amazing chocolate ganache. The cake was published in Cook’s Illustrated several years ago and called Wicked Good Boston Cream Pie. I used the semi-homemade filling from Kraft’s Boston Cream Pie (instant vanilla pudding mix plus, dare I say it, Cool Whip).

Didn’t quite nail the ganache. I poured it on a little too soon. So I’ll try againt this weekend and make sure the ganache is a little cooler and thicker before I pour it on.

I highly recommend sharing with first responders. Make sure you get to know them first since they may not be excited about accepting homemade packages from strangers.