MexicanFoodWorld.com

Pizza may be associated more often with Italy, but the Mexican variety is hardly just a cheap knock-off. Quite the opposite.

A good Mexican pizza will knock your socks off. They do have some things in common – flour, cheese, tomatoes. But there the similarities end. Mexican pizza is a world away from that of its cousin.

Like many Mexican dishes the ingredients are a familiar mix: refried beans, ground beef, cheddar cheese and tomatoes. But for a truly Mexican pizza, not just an Italian pizza with some Mexican-style toppings, you have to use a corn tortilla as the base. Of course, ‘have to’ makes it sound like a torture. But in fact, it makes for a delightful variation.

There are a couple of ways to prepare that base. Many will fry the tortilla in vegetable oil for about 15 seconds, flip it over, and fry the other side. That’s not a bad way to go. But try baking them in a small oven at about 350F/177C for a few minutes for a lower calorie alternative. If you do fry, let the cooked tortillas sit on a paper towel for a minute to soak up the excess oil.

If you really want a lot of oil in the dish, you can use the leftover from cooking the ground beef in a skillet. Drain it off and layer the bottom of another skillet for the tortillas.

Now heat up the refried beans. A microwave makes for a very evenly done result because they work by heating water in food. Refried beans have considerable water inside, so the method works well for them. Then spread them onto the tortilla. Layer on the ground beef, followed by cheddar cheese. For a nice variation, use a bit of pepper jack cheese in the mix.

Pre-heat or keep the oven at 350F/177C.

Bake the beef and bean, cheese, and tortilla pizza in the oven for about 20-30 minutes. Check it after 15 minutes to make sure the edges aren’t getting burnt. If it tends to cook too fast you can cover the perimeter with a small strip of aluminum foil.

Depending on how you like your pizza, you can add fresh or cooked tomatoes after pulling the pizza out of the oven. Or you can put them into the oven a few minutes before it’s done. Unlike Italian pizza, it’s not usually a good idea to cook the tomatoes for the entire period with the rest. They’ll end up very soggy and a Mexican pizza should be crisp.

Top with avocado and olives for a traditional Mexican garnish. For those who want a little extra flavor, you can try some sour cream. For something a little more spicy, sprinkle a chopped jalapeño pepper at the beginning onto the pizza.

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Two simple steps and you’re on your way to some great tasting refried beans.

Start with great tasting ingredients. Get the freshest possible dried pinto beans. Anything that has been sitting around in a bag for a few months, even dried, will not make for the best result. Plus, the older they are the longer it takes to soften them up. Make it easier on yourself while you make it tasty.

Then lay the beans out, remove any small pieces of gravel, and rinse well in a collander. Yes, dried pinto beans will sometimes come packaged with small pieces of dirt or rock, depending on the source you buy them from. It needn’t ruin the taste and it doesn’t necessarily indicate poor quality beans.

Step one requires softening up the beans. You have two basic ways to do that, either by boiling or using a pressure cooker. A pressure cooker takes a little less time and is a bit easier. But boiling is fine, too. In either case, place 2 1/2 cups (about 1 lb) of beans in about 3 quarts of water, ensuring that it covers the beans a couple of inches. For boiling, boil about 2 1/2 hours stirring occasionally. A pressure cooker will require only about half an hour.

With either method, examine the beans and look for the majority to slightly split the skin. That indicates that the beans have absorbed a lot of water and the skin has softened enough for the added pressure to slightly break the skin.

Then drain the beans in a collander and shake gently.

Add a small amount of water (about 1/4 cup) to a cold iron frying pan and pour in the beans. Add a pinch of salt or other seasonings as desired. Good choices are a bit of chili powder or a small amount of garlic. Then mash the beans slightly with a potato masher. They should be lumpy, not perfectly smooth. Think of mashed potatoes that have not been mashed enough. That’s just about right.

Now drain any excess water and add a bit of lard or canola oil to the pan. Heat the pan to a medium-high level. As the beans fry, continue mashing, but still not too vigorously. The beans should remain somewhat chunky. Too much mashing turns them into soup.

That’s all there is to it!

Of course, there are a hundred tasty alternative recipes.

Some frijoles refritos recipes call for adding chunks of onion to the pan and sauteeing them before adding the beans. That’s fine. Spice it up with a little bit of jalapeño if you want. For more spice, add more chili powder, but take care not to overwhelm the beans (or your tongue).

In some recipes the beans are soaked overnight. That may work, but it often leads to excessively smooth refried beans, especially if you start with fresh ingredients. Be sure that when soaking and boiling you skim off any gray scum that floats to the top as the beans are being prepared.

Now for the most important part. Enjoy!

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