You are about to discover a recipe for the BEST PIZZA EVER…no seriously! It really is the best! Two of my favorite foods in life are REAL Mexican (not the tex-mex Mexican like you find in many “real” Mexican restaurants here in the states – but real Mexican flavors of the Yucatan – where my husband grew up – VERY hard to find in the US), and (good) pizza. This recipe is the marriage of the two: Carne Asada Pizza. Ever since I found out California Pizza Kitchen stopped making this iconic favorite, I wanted to create my own version. My recipe is combination of a couple different recipes I found online and through Pinterest.
I worked on making to-die-for pizza crust for a couple years. I just didn’t understand why I couldn’t get the pizza dough to crisp up on the bottom and be soft and chewy on the top. After 2-3 years of reading countless blogs and trying numerous recipes and techniques, I realized my problem had very little to do with the actual dough recipe, but had EVERYTHING to do with HOW I baked my pizza pie. Here are my observations – a must read before proceeding to “The Best EVER” recipe for Carne Asada Pizza:
· Pizza MUST be cooked on a HOT stone (like a well-seasoned Pampered Chef pizza stone). Stone must be pre-heated in a 500 degree oven for close to an hour prior to baking the pizza. This allows the crust to cook from the inside out vs. baking it to death in a 350 degree oven.
· It is easier to make and top your pizza and then transfer it to the hot stone. (Be very careful removing it from the oven – you will probably have to use double the hot pads. One, in my experience, does not cut it! Ouch!) It would be best to have a pizza peel – I don’t have one – and SO wish I did. It is on my list of things to look out for on sale! I have gotten pretty good at working fast on the hot stone. I spread the dough out on the counter, then transfer it to the stone, then top it…but you need to work fast, or the crust will get overcooked. Another option would be to make it on a piece of parchment paper – and use a thin cutting board to transfer the pizza to the hot stone. However, in my opinion, the parchment paper does not allow the true fire-baked taste to come out into the pizza, but it may be a safer option until you learn to work quickly (or just buy a pizza peel for goodness sake).
· Brush the edges of your crust with olive oil or butter – it makes them turn out a nice light golden brown. Seasonings are optional.
· The pizza only needs to bake about 5-8 minutes at this temperature. Watch it closely until you know your own oven and how many minutes is great.
· Master the pizza crust FIRST – then master the toppings! Seriously…the crust makes the pizza. Until you can make a good crust, don’t try to try new-fangled pizza toppings. Although – now I gave you all my tips, so you should be good! J
First make your pizza dough. Again, I found it isn’t so much the recipe for the dough as it is the method you use to bake it. Feel free to use your own crust favorite crust recipe, or use mine below (actually – my Grandma’s recipe – just with my own baking method). This recipe makes ONE pizza crust. I often double or triple it to make more than one pizza (or sometimes, breadsticks using the same dough).
Pizza Crust
Ingredients
2 ¼ tspYeast
1C Warm Water
2-3 T Melted Butter (Olive Oil is a good substitute)
2 T Sugar
1 ½ tsp Salt
3-4 C Flour
Directions
In a small bowl, combine warm water, yeast, melted butter, sugar, and salt. Let rest 5-10 minutes or until yeast starts to bubble and “work.”
In a large mixing bowl, pour the “worked” mixture (make sure to use a rubber spatula to scrape all the sugar/salt residue into the bowl) and 1-2 cups of the flour.
Using a dough hook, mix on low until combined, and add the remaining flour (I ALWAYS use all 4 cups on the dot – no more – no less).
Set your mixer on medium low (setting number 2-3 on a KitchenAid) and let it kneed for about 5 minutes. Dough should move cleanly around the bowl and form into a ball once combined. If too sticky, add more flour; if too dry, add more water.
Once combined, remove dough, lightly oil the bowl, place the dough back in the bowl and cover it to let rise till about doubled (depending on the temperature in your home and how active your yeast is, usually 1-2 hours).
NOTE: To speed it up a bit, sometimes I turn the oven on for 1-3 minutes then turn it off (depending on how fast your oven gets warm – you don’t want a hot oven, just warmer than your house). I put a pan of luke-warm water in the oven to create steam…then put my bowl in. This almost always gets the dough to rise in about an hour.
6. Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and move it to a floured surface to rest a few minutes (about five).
7. Roll or pat the dough into your pizza surface (round or square is fine).
8. If you plan to transfer top your pizza prior to placing it onto the hot stone, then sprinkle the peel or surface with corn meal to help it slide off. If you plan to make your pizza on the hot stone, prepare your toppings, make your pizza on the piping hot stone, and then proceed to step 9.
9. Top your pizza using a variety of sauce, cheese, meat, veggie, and fruit toppings. Experiment with seasonings and flavors.
10. Transfer your pizza from the peel/surface or parchment paper to the piping hot stone.
11. Bake 5-8 minutes until cheese bubbles.
12. BE CAREFUL UPON REMOVING THE PIZZA FROM THE OVEN. It WILL be VERY hot! Let it rest for a few minutes, then slice, serve, and enjoy!
Ok – the moment you have been waiting for (maybe):
Carne Asada Pizza
I combined this recipe withone I found hereas well as my own pizza dough recipe, and then a Salsa Verde recipe I recieved from my friend Laura Castle (who got it from her friend that lives in Mexico). I altered the original recipe a little to what Nate thought would be more "authentic" Mecican flavors, as well as adapted to what I could find. Honestly, I would not change a single thing. It was amazing!
Before you begin, know that these are two ingredients you will want to purchase to get authenticMexican flavor:
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| La Costena Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce -- Walmart, Meijers, and Kroger (probably more) - International isle |
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| Green Pickled Serrano Peppers-- Walmart, Meijers, and Kroger (probably more) - International isle |
You could purchase fresh too -- but we both thought the flavor in these cans (sold also where Nate grew up) would make it more "authentic."
Ingredients
Cilantro Pesto:
- 1/2 C firmly packed cilantro leaves
- 1-3 whole pickled Serrano pepper(s), seeds removed if desired (I did not)
- 1-1/2 T pine nuts
- 1 clove garlic, minced or chopped
- 1 tsp lime juice
- ¼ - ½ tsp salt
- ¼ C freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1/3 C olive oil
Salsa Verde:
- 2 lbs tomatillos (green tomatoes)
- 3-4 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
- Green chilies (as many as desired – I used canned – so about 2 small or 1 large can)
- ½ C firmly packed cilantro leaves
- Salt to taste
Carne Asada Marinade:
- ½ C firmly packed cilantro leaves
- ¼ C plus 2 T lime juice
- 2 T olive oil
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1/4 tsp red Chile flakes
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp granulated garlic
Carne Asada Beef:
- 1 lb sirloin, skirt, or loin steak – you choose (I used Sirloin since that is what I had on hand)
- Carne Asada Marinade
For the pizza:
- 1 recipe pizza dough
- Cornmeal, semolina or flour for handling
- Cilantro Pesto
- 1 cup (or more if you like – we like more) Monterey jack cheese
- 20 to 25 half rings sweet white onion
- 1 recipe sliced Carne Asada Beef
- ½ to 1 can Chipotle Chili Peppers in Adobo Sauce, sliced
- 1-3 T chopped fresh cilantro
Directions
1. Place pizza stone in the oven and preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
2. To make Carne Asada marinade:
a. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl.
b. Place raw beef in a large bowl or bag, and pour marinade over; let chill for at least 1 hour. (I made three individual steaks that amounted to about 1-1/2 lbs, so I placed two of the steaks in a freezer bag with the marinade on it for another time…and just used one steak for the pizza.)
3. To make the Salsa:
a. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.
b. Place in the refrigerator until after pizza is baked.
4. To make the pesto:
a. Blend all the ingredients in a food processor until smooth.
b. Set aside in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
5. To make the Carne Asada:
a. Prepare a hot grill.
b. Grill the beef for 4 to 4 minutes per side (or until you reached your desired “doneness.”
c. Remove from grill and allow to cool for five minutes.
d. Slice beef into 1/4 inch thick strips, and set aside.
6. To make the pizza (refer to pizza instructions above for crust preparation):
a. Either on a pizza peel, the hot pizza stone (BE CAREFUL) or another surface, sprinkle a little cornmeal.
b. Spread dough out onto surface.
c. Use a large spoon to spread the cilantro pesto evenly over the surface of the prepared dough including the rim (you won’t need additional butter/oil for the rim by doing it this way). You may have some cilantro pesto left over – we only used about 1/ 2 the recipe, so I froze the rest for the next pizza.
d. Cover the sauced area with half the Jack cheese, half the onions, half the Carne Asada beef, and half the chilies.
e. Repeat step d with the remaining ingredients.
f. Transfer the pizza to the oven.
g. Bake until the crust is crisp and golden and the cheese in the center is bubbly, 5-8 minutes.
h. When cooked through, carefully remove the pizza from the oven. Sprinkle chopped cilantro over the hot, cheesy surface.
i. Slice and serve with a drizzle of Salsa Verde on each piece.
Enjoy! This really was AMAZING pizza. It was a bit spicy, though…so I wouldn’t serve it to the kiddos. I made the boys a separate “regular” pizza and Nate and I consumed this amazing goodness. Remember you can control the heat by decreasing the amount of Serrano peppers or Chipotle Chilies. We like spicy, so we used it all – but I will admit my mouth was a little on fire (a good on fire though). Really, this was the BEST non-traditional pizza I have ever made! Honestly, it was better than the California Pizza Kitchen version I used to get before the removed it from the menu. Really authentic flavors.
Beautiful! Delish! Yum!
