Last week I returned from a road trip originating in Morro Bay, CA and ended up back home in Chicagoland, IL. The trip took my mother and I several days and we loved every food drenched moment of it. We ate our way through:
- Tucson, AZ
- Las Cruces, NM
- Santa Fe, NM
- Wichita, KS
Of course we ate more than 4 times but those were the most note worthy culinary experiences. I am an absolute nut for New Mexican food. The absolutely intoxicating scenery may add to the general splendor but why pick apart a good thing. Everything is bigger and better in New Mexico. Take for instance the giant pistachio shown below.
We high tailed it for home after two days in New Mexico. The 'high tailing' it part caught up to me (or, so I thought) somewhere in OK. All of a sudden lights were flashing behind me and sirens were blaring. Oh crap, I got caught doing 78 in a 70 mile per hour zone. Nope. I was pulled over for not using my turn signal for a lane change. The cop politely asked me go back to his car where he had me sit in the front seat for what felt like a full on interrogation. Where have you been? Why was the car at your grandma's in Ca? You left it there for 6 months? What did he think my mother and I were up to anyway?!
This strange event on the last day of our road trip was making us incredibly hungry and craving some local fare (must have been the stressful interrogation). Luckily we were approaching BBQ country. We happened upon a great place for BBQ right off the freeway near Wichita. After devouring my sandwich I was only left wanting more. Does anyone know how you get hungry riding in a car all day?!!
That brings me to this week's pizza selection: Pulled Pork BBQ Pizza. You might be surprised how good this really is! Cutting the BBQ sauce with stewed tomatoes really was a great way to get the sugar content down to a reasonable level. You're going to love it!
PULLED PORK PIZZA (SERVES 2 - HUNGRY, ROAD WEARY FOLKS)
CRUST
Use one third of pizza dough (enough for one medium pizza)
TOPPINGS
- 1 cup left over pulled pork - cooked, fat trimmed, and ready to go
- ¼ cup homemade BBQ sauce or whatever you prefer - to taste
- ½ can stewed tomatoes - chopped
- ¼ cup pine nuts - toasted
- 2 green onions - thinly sliced
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese - grated
Preheat oven to 500°. While the oven is heating shape your dough into the desired shape, adding as little flour as possible. Poke several small holes in the crust with a fork to prevent bubbling. Transfer pizza dough to whatever, pan, stone, etc you will be using for cooking. Brush crust with a bit of extra-virgin olive oil, and cook without toppings for about 5 minutes. Mix pulled pork, BBQ sauce, and tomatoes together and stir to combine, this will act as your sauce so make sure you have enough to cover the crust. After removing the pizza crust from the oven layer the BBQ mixture, then pine nuts, cheese, and green onions. Cook for 10 or so minutes more, or until golden brown.
Want to see some more delicious pizza recipes?! Click here.