Recipe- Spicy Chipotle Pizza For House Party

Everyone loves a good pizza, isn’t it? My love affair with pizza has come a full circle. When I was kid, I used to love pizza like love love them. And then something happened and I started disliking them, to the point that I never felt like eating a pizza. I don’t know what happened, maybe it was the cheese? or maybe because I got totally bored of it. I know so weird! And then I started making pizzas at home and I fell in love with them again! ??

In fact now I also eat outside pizzas once in a while but yeah I prefer homemade. One of my favorite pizzas in recent times has been the Spicy Chipotle Pizza from California Pizza Kitchen. Now you guys must be thinking I am a vegetarian so how exactly a chicken pizza is my favorite! Basically we ask them to remove the chicken and go light on cheese and then it’s perfect for us! So this vegetarian version of spicy chipotle chicken pizza is inspired from CPK.

Ingredients

Pizza dough

2.5 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon salt
1¾ teaspoon active dry yeast
1 cup + 1 teaspoon warm water [around 110-115 f degrees]
3 tablespoons olive oil some more to brush the dough
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 poblano pepper, divided
1/2 cup monterey jack cheese, shredded
1/2 cup mix of cheddar & mozarella cheese, grated

Bean & Corn Salsa

1 can black bean [15 oz can]
1 can sweet corn kernel [15 oz can]
1 to mato chopped
1 red onion small, chopped
½ of poblano pepper
3/4 cup cilantro packed
3-4 teaspoons lime juice
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Chipotle Pizza Sauce

2.5 tablespoons sour cream
¾ teaspoon lime juice
2.25 teaspoons adobo sauce chipotle chili in adobo sauce
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Cilantro Lime Crema

2 tablespoons sour cream
2-3 teaspoons lime juice
2 tablespoons cilantro
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
½ avocado diced
½ teaspoon sugar
salt to taste
pepper to taste
water little

Method

Bean & Corn Salsa

* In a large bowl mix together chopped onions, tomato, black beans and corn.

* Add chopped cilantro, poblano pepper and mix.

* Add in lime juice, salt & pepper and mix till well combined. Set aside till ready to use.

Pizza Dough & Chipotle Pizza Sauce

* Let's start making the pizza dough. In a bowl sift together bread flour and salt. Set aside.

* In another small bowl take some warm water [warm tap water works well, temperature around 110-115 F degrees].

* Mix in honey and active dry yeast and give it a quick stir. Leave it for 10 minutes to proof.

* After 10 minutes, the yeast will be all bubbly and foamy as seen in the picture below. This means the yeast is now active and ready to use.

* To the flour mixture, now add oil in the center.

* Add the activated yeast mixture to the flour.

* Using the paddle attachment of your stand mixer or using your hands mix till dough comes together.

* Remove paddle attachment and insert the dough hook. Knead the dough for 5-7 minutes till it's totally smooth. The dough should spring back when you poke it. You can also knead using your hands for 10 minutes. Place the dough in a bowl and coat it well with oil [both sides]. Cover and let it rise for 1 to 1.5 hours.

* After 60-90 minutes, the dough would have more than doubled in size, as you can see in the picture above.

* Punch the dough to release the air and let it rest for 10 minutes.

* In the meanwhile take a small bowl and whisk together chioptle chili in adobo sauce (only the sauce), sour cream, lime juice, salt and pepper. Set aside.

* Preheat your oven to 500 F degrees.

* After the dough has rested a bit, divide the dough into 2 parts. I used only one part of the dough for this pizza. I froze the other one!

* Roll the dough into a 10 inch round circle and transfer to a pizza pan sprayed with non-stick spray and sprinkled with cornmeal.

* Brush the dough with little olive oil and then poke all over with fork so that that the crust doesn't puff up in the oven.

* Apply the chipotle pizza sauce on the base all pizza base.

* Top with sliced red onion, 1/2 of poblano pepper and shredded monterey jack, cheddar and mozzarella cheese.

* Bake the pizza at 500 for 5 minutes, rotate the pan 180 degrees and bake for another 2 minutes. Take out the pizza, dump 1 cup of bean and corn salsa over the base and bake for another 1-2 mins. Remove from oven. [Remember to drain the water from the salsa before using it on the pizza base]

Cilantro Lime Crema

* In a food processor, add all the ingredients - cilantro, sour cream, lime juice, mayonnaise, avocado, sugar, salt & pepper.

* Pulse to a smooth paste. Add little water so that it's easier to drizzle on top of the pizza.

* Transfer the cilantro lime crema to a ziplock/piping bag and make a small cut at the bottom.

* Drizzle the cilantro lime crema on top of your spicy chipotle pizza and enjoy.