Meredith Miller’s Mexican pizza
Amongst her teammates, professional cyclist Meredith Miller may be best known for her chocolate cookies, but whenever I think of Meredith’s kitchen escapades, I think of her pizzas. The first time she invited me to dinner seven years ago, she served homemade pizza – two homemade…
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Amongst her teammates, professional cyclist Meredith Miller may be best known for her chocolate cookies, but whenever I think of Meredith’s kitchen escapades, I think of her pizzas. The first time she invited me to dinner seven years ago, she served homemade pizza – two homemade pizzas actually. The first was potato and rosemary and the second was sweet potato and goat cheese. I have been happily eating her pizzas regularly ever since.
Meredith tends to like to mix it up in terms of toppings, so it’s not often that a particular pizza recipe will become a part of her regular rotation, but the Mexican pizza has proven such a winner, that it’s one she makes time and time again. How could it not be a crowd pleaser? It includes chips and beer as pizza toppings.
Ingredients
- Pre-made pizza dough (I use Whole Foods pre-made pizza dough. I use half a dough ball for one pizza.)
- 1 cup flour
- 2 tablespoons cornmeal
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
- 15oz can black beans
- 1 cup beer (your choice)
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup corn (I use frozen)
- 8-10 sun dried tomatoes (softened)
- 1 roasted red pepper sliced into thin strips
- 1 cup tortilla chips (I use chili & lime) coarsely crushed
- 1.5 cups shredded cheese (Mexican blend or cheddar)
- rolling pin
- pizza stone
- pizza peel
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 475 Fahrenheit (245 Celsius).
- Sprinkle the cornmeal onto the peel making sure the edge of the peel is well covered.
- Sprinkle flour onto counter. Roll out the pizza dough with rolling pin to desired shape and size. Place the dough on the peel. Paint the edge of the dough with small amount of olive oil to create a crispy edge while baking.
- Drain the black beans. Transfer beans to a small sauce pan. Add 1 cup of beer, 8-10 sun dried tomatoes, oregano and salt to taste. Heat until boiling and then turn down temperature to low simmer for approximately 15 minutes. Use a hand mixer or blender to puree the beans and tomatoes into a smooth (slightly chunky) paste – this will be the pizza base. Allow the paste to cool to room temperature. I often will stick the pan right into the refrigerator to cool more quickly.
- Spread the bean paste onto the pizza dough until touching the olive oil. As you spread the paste, make sure the dough still slides on the peel.
- Lay the red pepper strips over the bean paste in a pinwheel motif. Sprinkle the corn on top of the peppers. Toss the crushed tortilla chips on next. Cover the top of the pizza with the shredded cheese. As you layer on the ingredients, make sure the pizza still slides on the peel. If it is too heavy, it will not slide onto the pizza stone and your pizza will lose its shape (although it will still taste good).
- Bake for approximately 15 minutes until the cheese and crust are a golden brown.