Spicy southwest pizza.
A while back we tried encapsulating the elusive flavors of elote and reimagined it as popcorn. Now, we’re back doing the same thing but this time with pizza.
As you can imagine, the result is nothing short of phenomenal. A culinary experience that everyone should experience at least once in their life.
For the crust, I recommend going as thin as you can (something I regret not doing as much as I should have). But the reason being is that the sauce is such a rich base, that the crackery thin crust really helps it shine in small amounts. And speaking of sauce, it’s made up of a mix of light sour cream, light mayo, chipotle pepper, garlic, and an assortment of spices you’d find at home in an elote dish.
For toppings, the recipe also uses savory crumbles of spicy chorizo, fresh jalapeno, and red onion, green chilies, and of course, bits of sweet corn. For the cheese, it’s a blend of mozzarella, cotija, and crumbles of queso fresco to tie it all together.
Time You Need
- ~25 minutes prep
- ~25 minutes cooking
- ~1 pizza pie
What You Need
- ~1 pound of premade or store-bought pizza dough
- ~1 red onion, diced
- ~2 fresh jalapenos chopped
- 7-8 ounces of green chilies
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 8 ounces of ground chorizo
- 1 cup of shredded or grated cotija cheese
- ½ cup of fresh crumbled queso fresco
- 1 cup of shredded mozzarella
- ~2 chipotle peppers in adobo, finely chopped
- ~1 tsp adobo sauce
- 1 cup of lite sour cream
- 1/3 cup of light mayo
- ~1 1/2 cups of frozen corn
- Fresh lime, for juice
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- Cilantro* optional
What You Do
- Start by preheating the oven to 450. Roll out the pizza dough to form a thin crust. The thinner the better here.
- Next, in a skillet over medium-high heat, add in chorizo and cook for about 10 minutes, until it begins to crisp up and brown. Then remove from heat and set to the side.
- Once the oven has preheated, place the dough on a greased pan. Precook the dough for about 10 minutes.
- In a bowl, add in the mayo, sour cream, chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, minced garlic, and your cumin, chili powder, paprika, and cayenne. Then squeeze the fresh lime over the bowl and whisk the ingredients together. Taste, and season more to your liking.
- Once the pizza is done precooking, remove it from the oven. Gently brush a thin layer of the chipotle lime sauce over the crust, evenly coating it. Save any remaining sauce for the last drizzle.
- Then sprinkle on the mozzarella cheese. Top with the chorizo, diced onion, jalapeno slices, green chili, and corn. For the final layer, sprinkle on the cotija cheese and crumbled queso fresco evenly over the pizza.
- Add a dash of any additional seasonings (cumin, chili powder, paprika) then place in the oven. Cook for about 20-25 minutes, until the crust begins to brown and the cheese is melted.
- Remove from the oven and drizzle any remaining chipotle lime sauce over the top. Top with cilantro if desired.
- Slice up, serve and enjoy!