My english teacher in high school asked the class to write an essay describing what type of animal best describes each of our own personalities.  Based on the mere fact that I love cheese, I quickly knew I would be a mouse and could have written an encyclopedia on it.

Since then nothing has changed in the love for cheese department, except now I am familiar with many varieties and at that time I was limited to a few.  I bring my cheese love forward when it comes to pizza-making….. and let me tell you, I’ve been to many of the pizza capitals of the world, Chicago, New York,  and all over Europe to name a few, and mine (imagine me honking my own BIG OBNOXIOUS HORN here) is SUPER FRICKEN DELICIOUS!  I enjoy mixing different types of cheese together and usually the results are FAB-TACULAR!

Ingredients for pizza:

1 – batch of dough,  click here for recipe.

8 – tablespoons olive oil

corn meal

1 1/2 – cups pizza sauce (recipe below)

1 1/2 – cups grated mozzarella cheese

1 – cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 – cup grated cotija cheese

dried salami

sliced onion

basil

sliced black olives

An hour and a half prior to making your pizza,  rub a baking sheet lightly with olive oil.  Then pull dough out of the refrigerator to come to room temperature.  You will need to punch down dough and smooth into balls.  Then cover with plastic wrap while you wait for dough to come to room temp.

About 45 minutes before ready to bake, place a pizza stone on rack 3/4 of the way down from top of oven.  Preheat oven to 500 degrees fahrenheit.

Time to work the dough…  Take one of your dough balls and place on a lightly floured surfaced and shape into a disk.  Then continue to pull out into the desired size of your pie by draping it over the back of your hands, and continue to rotate dough with the back of your hands in a clockwise motion with the aid of your thumbs.

Then take your lightly olive oiled baking sheet and sprinkle it with cornmeal then place pizza dough directly on top.  Continue to go around the edges forming a slightly raised rim with the tips of your fingers by pinching and gathering the dough.

Once the dough is ready.  Place a tablespoon of olive oil on the inside of the dough and then spread it around the inside circle avoiding the rim.

Then take 1/3 cup of pizza sauce and spread on inside of dough.

Then top with 1/3 cup mozzarella cheese,  1/4 cup cheddar cheese, and 1 tablespoon of cotija cheese.

Then top with salami, onion, basil and olives.

Then sprinkle a pinch of cheese over the top salami and veggies.

Place in oven for 9 to 11 minutes or until crust is golden!  Cook each pizza one at a time.

You could always make a vegetarian option and swap out the salami for fresh sliced tomatoes instead.  Its just as delizioso!

Enjoy!

Ingredients for pizza sauce:

1 – 8 ounce can tomato sauce

1 – 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes

2 – teaspoons red wine vinegar

1/2 – teaspoon garlic powder

1 – teaspoon dried basil

1/2 – teaspoon oregano

1/4 – teaspoon black pepper

1/2 – teaspoon salt

1/3 – cup water

How to make the pizza sauce: Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.  There will be a little left over for those who love extra sauce or for future pizzas. 🙂

PIZZA PIE!  PIZZA PIE!

 All photos taken by: Mando Lopez and Nicole Presley

I get home Tuesday night to a big Fed-Ex box waiting at my doorstep.  Immediately I act like it’s Christmas, I tell Mando “Grab some scissors so I could pop this box open.”   I spy to see the return address is Melissa’s Produce, this sets excitement to my creative mood.  Pulling the flap up to the box  a crowd of HATCH CHILES reveal themselves.  I see the chiles have decided to group into cliques labeled “HOT” and “MILD”…. Who do I want to enjoy first?  I know,  I will test the waters with the mild chiles initially and work my tolerance up to the hot…. Sounds like a plan.  Here’s what happened next:  Brainstorming, market run, roasting chiles over an open flame, and peeling all the charred skin away. Corn bread strata is what I came up with for the mild hatch chiles, wait a couple of days and I’ll deliver what kind of dance the hot hatch chiles did for me! Thank you again Melissa’s Produce!

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley

Ingredients for hatch chile corn bread:

3/4 – cup milk

1 – cup grilled corn

1/2 -cup melted butter

2 – beaten eggs

3/4 – cup mild hatch chile (roasted, peeled, seeded, and chopped) (about 3 chiles)

1 1/2 – cups yellow cornmeal plus 1/4 cup

1/4 – cup flour

1 – teaspoon baking powder

1/2 – teaspoon baking soda

1 – teaspoon sugar

1 -teaspoon salt

1 – cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

First start by roasting hatch chiles over an open flame. Then once skin is charred place in a ziplock bag and let steam for an hour. Remove from bag, and peel off charred skin under a slow stream of water. Then remove stem and seeds from chile. Lastly cut into long strips then chop into small pieces.

Next take your grilled corn on the cob and remove kernels.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Then take a 9×13 metal cake pan and grease with butter and shake with 1/4 cup of cornmeal. This will ensure your corn bread does not stick.

In a mixing bowl add milk, grilled corn, butter, eggs, and mild hatch chiles. Mix well.

In a large mixing bowl add cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt. Whisk together. Then add wet mixture to dry mixture and mix until combined.

Pour into prepared metal cake pan, and spread evenly. Then top with 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese.

Bake for 25 minutes.  Corn bread is done!

Ingredients for strata:

1 – pan of hatch chile corn bread

1 – cup grilled corn

4 – mild hatch chiles (roasted, peeled, seeded, and butterflied)

5 – ounces artichoke hearts (chopped)

1/2 – cup pepitas

2 – cups grated jack cheese

1/2 – cup chopped green onion

1/2 – tablespoon dried chili flakes

1 – teaspoon black pepper

1 – teaspoon Lawry’s

2 – cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

1 – tablespoon spicy brown mustard

8 – eggs

1 – cup milk

1 – cup 1/2 & 1/2

Butter a 9×13 glass baking dish. Then take corn bread and cut into small pieces. Then line glass baking dish with corn bread pieces. Make sure to leave 1/8 of corn bread behind for a later use.

Then sprinkle with grilled corn.

Then add butterflied mild hatch chiles to the next layer.

Now add the artichoke hearts and pepitas.

Now for the jack cheese, chopped green onion, dried chili flakes, black pepper, and Lawry’s.

Now take the remaining cornbread (that 1/8 you saved), and break it up over the top.

Let’s be fair and sprinkle in some sharp cheddar cheese to the top.

In a bowl beat mustard, eggs, milk, and 1/2 & 1/2.  Then pour mixture over the top of the strata.  It should look like this from the side.

Now cover the strata and place in the refrigerator for 12 hours or over night. This is the hard part. Waiting.

Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit.  Bake strata for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean!

Enjoy!  Serve for breakfast with some sausage on the side or with a side of black beans and sour cream.  I’ll take both. 🙂

No compensation was received for this post. I was provided with a sample of  Melissa’s Produce hatch chiles to aid this recipe. The recipe and opinions are my own.