Mexican Pizza (with Cornmeal Crust)

I tend to to cook meals that are much to large for just two people to eat. I don't mind this since it means plenty of left overs and less work for me in the future. However, Christopher doesn't like eating the same thing too many times within a week, so I find I either have to freeze some for a later date or get creative. I had plenty of left overs from Taco's on Sunday, so I decided to turn it into a Mexican pizza.



This isn't the first time, I have made this, but it is the first time I made it with cornmeal pizza crust. I found this recipe at Cooks.com. I used only the recipe for the pizza crust itself. I followed the directions exactly, but then found the dough to be too wet so I added a little flour until it was more dough like, oh yeah, and I used my kitchen aid mixer instead of kneading by hand. Here are the directions for what I did.

Mexican Pizza (with Cornmeal Crust)

Cornmeal Crust:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (plus extra if needed)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (I tried to forget this, but thank goodness I remembered at the last second)
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal


Preheat oven to 425.

In the bowl to my kitchen aid mixer I added 3/4 cups flour, sugar, yeast, salt, warm water and oil. I mixed using the paddle attachment for 30 seconds on "stir" and 1 minute on low. Then I added the cornmeal and remaining 3/4 cups flour. I mixed it (still with the paddle attachment) until combined. I then switched to the dough hook and began the kneading process. It was at this time I decided that the dough was just too wet and needed more flour, so I added more flour as needed. If I had to to guess I would say I added about a half a cup of flour, but really I just eyeballed it. I let it knead for about 5 minutes then covered and let rest for 10 (or about that since I do tend to get a little antsy when waiting)

Once the dough was ready I pressed it out into a rectangle on my cookie sheet (fitted with a Silpat) and baked it for 8 minutes. I then removed it from the oven and topped it with a layer of re-fried beans, shredded beef, salsa and cheese. (You could add any other toppings you like, but this was all I had on hand.) I then put it back in the oven and baked for about another 10 minutes or until the cheese was melted and crust was a golden brown color. For a final touch we added lettuce to our slices and then dug in!

Chris really loved the crust and even ate what was left on my plate. I enjoyed the crust too, even if it wasn't the exact flavor I was looking for. All in all I will definitely make this pizza again.