Yeehaw.

Sometimes it pays to think outside of the box when it comes to pizza. I wanted to make one last night for dinner and I was going to go with my usual combo of goat cheese, pesto and mushrooms. Then I saw a picture for a Southwest-style pizza on Instagram and I decided to go in a different direction.

Let me tell you, it’s a wild ride. There was no recipe so I basically improvised, but it all worked out well in the end. I bought some San Marzano crushed tomatoes for the sauce and I mixed in some chipotle powder. Then I dumped a bag of Mozzarella and goat cheese on top and added some canned black beans and corn. I brushed the crush with some olive oil and popped it in the oven.

I let the pizza bake until the cheese was bubbly, and then I put some sliced cherry tomatoes, avocado and cilantro on top. Sprinkle it with a little salt, pepper and red chili flakes and you’ll have a pizza that makes you want to go to a fiesta. Or at the very least, climb on a horse.

Here are some tunes from an Austin, TX, band called Wild Child to get you going. There’s ukelele in the song, which is more Hawaiian than Southwest…but you’ll get the idea. I’d like to learn how to play the ukelele soon. And go to Austin–I hear great things.

Southwest Style Pizza (from me)

Ingredients

Prepackaged pizza dough
Pinch of flour
1/2 of a 28 oz San Marzano crushed tomatoes
1/4-1/2 tsp chipotle powder (depending on how spicy you want the sauce)
1/2 cup – 1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup goat cheese crumbles
1/2 can black beans, rinsed
1/2 can sweet corn, rinsed
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/2 avocado, sliced thin
Salt, pepper, cilantro and red chili flakes for topping

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Take a baking sheet and line with parchment paper. Sprinkle a little flour on top.

Take the pizza dough and push it out a little into a circle on the floured parchment paper. Then, pick it up and start rotating it in a circle from hand to hand. It’s kind of like turning the wheel to a car, but be careful not to let the middle get too thin because it will rip.

Once the dough looks more or less like a circle, put it on the baking sheet and use your thumbs to form a crust around the edges. Mix the chipotle powder into the crushed tomatoes and then spread some on the crust. Sprinkle on some mozzarella cheese, black beans and corn, and then sprinkle on more mozzarella and the goat cheese crumbles.

Brush the crust with a little olive oil using a pastry brush. Pop the pizza in the oven and bake about 10 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly.

In the meantime, quarter the cherry tomatoes and slice up half an avocado. Once the pizza comes out of the oven, top with the cherry tomatoes and avocado, and sprinkle on a little salt, pepper, some cilantro leaves and red chili flakes to taste (for me, the spicier the better).