Black Bean Mexican Pizza

Alright, I know. I keep promising more posts... Well, I am finally armed with several recipes accumulated from the last two weekends, and I hopefully plan to get a few more of them up here for what good is a food blog if I'm not actually posting food? While I haven't been so great keeping my blog updated, I HAVE been trying to keep up with all of yours. I can tell you that everyone is definitely posting some good eats. My "recipes" bookmark tab keeps getting longer and longer by the day...

This is a recipe that I saw a couple months ago on Cook Like a Champion. I bookmarked it immediately because if you know anything about my husband, you've heard me talk about how he loves pizza. We've gotten so that we make it quite a bit at home, and I have to admit that I think we're getting pretty good at it. Anyway, we're always looking for new variations on the standard sauce, toppings, cheese combination, and this just sounded delicious.

Unfortunately, after all that talk about how much my husband loves pizza, I actually made this one for my parents. They definitely enjoyed it, and I am sure it won't be too long before I end up making it for the hubbs. The pizza as a whole reminds me a little bit of that addicting mexican 7-layer dip. I did end up changing things up a little bit simply to accomodate what we had in the kitchen. The roasted red peppers were swapped for some black bean and corn salsa and I subbed a diced jalapeno for the anaheim pepper slices. Overall, it definitely goes into the "make again" file at our place. Enjoy! 

(Printable Recipe)

Black Bean Mexican Pizza

Adapted from Cook Like a Champion

Ingredients:
1 recipe homemade pizza dough (we've also used bread flour in this)
1 can black beans, rinsed
approximately 1/2 c. salsa of your choice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. cumin
salt
1-1/2 c. shredded part-skim Monterrey Jack cheese
3 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1-2 green onions, white and green parts thinly sliced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced
shredded romaine lettuce
low-fat sour cream

Set a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 425 degrees. Place a piece of parchment paper on a cutting board. Roll out the pizza dough on a piece of parchment paper to the desired size and shape. Set aside and let it rest. 

In a food processor, pulse the black beans until "mashed" (this can also be done by hand with a fork or potato masher). Add salsa as directed or until the desired consistency is reached. Add the garlic, chili powder, and cumin and mix until well combined and the mixture is smooth. Taste and season with salt, if desired.

Spread the black bean puree on the pizza crust, leaving a 1/2-inch boarder around the edge. Top with the cheese, tomatoes, green onion, and jalapeno pieces. Remove the pan from the oven. Use the cutting board under the parchment paper to help slide the pizza (including the parchment paper) onto the hot pan. This will start baking the underside of the crust immediately and will help it get crisp. Bake for 18-25 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and the crust begins to turn golden.  Transfer the pizza to a work surface and cut into slices. Top each slice with lettuce and dollops of sour cream and serve immediately.