South of the Border-style pizza for Cinco de Mayo

Pizza is different things to different people. Sometimes it's a thick crust, sometimes a thin crust, sometimes a REALLY thin crust. Sometimes it has meat on it, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it's a white pizza -- hold the sauce, please. 

Sometimes it's fun to take pizza "South of the Border,'' with salsa and other Tex-Mex toppings and flavors.

 

Cinco de Mayo (the Fifth of May) is a celebration of Mexican culture and heritage. It's also an excuse to drink Margaritas, gorge on chips and salsa -- or make this thin-crust South of the Border-style pizza with Central New York accents.

 

The "sauce" on this super-thin pizza is Primo and Mary's Black Bean and Corn Salsa, made by Primo and Mary's Heritage Products, based in Cazenovia. The sausage is Hartmann's, from Canandaigua. They also make a chorizo.

 

Less is more when making any kind of pizza, but especially this one. Go easy on the salsa and toppings or the pizza will come out soggy.

 

Enjoy any leftover salsa with Terrell's tortilla chips, made in Syracuse, for a hyper-local snack.

 

South of the Border-Style Flatbread Pizza

 

Olive oil

1/4 red onion, sliced

1/4 red pepper, sliced

1 link Hartmann's Old World Chicken Supremo Sausage (or your choice), sliced and browned

One whole wheat or multi-grain flatbread/wrap (I used Flatout) 

Pasta's Spicy Hot Tomato Oil

Approximately 1/3 cup Primo and Mary's Black Bean and Corn Salsa (mild or medium)

A few sliced olives, optional

Approximately 3 ounces shredded pepper jack cheese

 

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

 

Saute onion and red pepper in a little olive oil over medium heat until nice and soft and slightly caramelized. Remove from pan and add chicken sausage. Cook until brown.

 

Grease a pizza pan. Place flatbread on pan and spread a light film of Pasta's Spicy Hot Tomato Oil on flatbread. Add one-third cup Primo and Mary's Black Bean and Corn Salsa to flatbread. The sauce should cover the flatbread but you do not want it very wet. Spread the salsa around using back of a spoon. Add on the onion, red pepper and sausage and a few sliced olives, if desired. Sprinkle on the the cheese.

 

Place pan with pizza on lowest rack of oven. Check pizza after about 5 minutes. All ovens are different -- if the "crust" is getting brown and cheese isn't melted, move to top rack to finish cooking. Remove pizza from oven and cut in strips. Serve as a casual supper, with a green salad, or as an appetizer. Makes 1 or 2 servings, depending on your appetite and if you feel like sharing.