The amount of pizza we consume in this house is staggering. I make myself feel better about it by making it in lots of different ways though. And if you call it pizza, kids come running. I usually get an “Aww, MAN!” if it’s not a typical pepperoni pizza, but after smelling it for a little bit, they all come running.
We have a local pizzeria that I adore- Fortel’s Pizza Den – and they have quite a variety of pizzas. One of them is a Santa Fe Pizza. When I asked them for the recipe (yes, I actually did ask them for their recipe), they said no! I couldn’t believe it.
Well, I guess I understand why they said no, but they didn’t even give me a direction to go. Needless to say, I went on a mission. I was going to make a fantastic Santa Fe Pizza. I’m pretty sure this pizza is actually better than the one they make, if nothing else, because it’s grilled. It’s amazing the difference in the taste of a grilled pizza.
The pizza dough I use is just my standard – it’s easy, it’s quick and it’s yummy. The sauce that I make for this pizza is actually similar to a salad dressing recipe I use for a Mexican salad. We usually have that salad for dinner when we have this pizza – just to compliment everything. So if you happen to make a little extra sauce, either toss it on some greens that night, or save it for when you have a salad. It would also be really good in a wrap.
I’ve never tried that, but I think I’ve just given myself an idea…hmmm.
To make the sauce, it is a big secret and crazy hard: Mix low-fat ranch dressing…with ….SHHHH….Mexican seasoning. Yep. That’s it. You can either mix some chili powder and cumin into the salad dressing, or to make life even easier, you can mix part of a packet of taco seasoning into salad dressing. The measurements are…shady. It depends on the size of your pizza, if you want leftover sauce – etc. I recommend at least 1/2 cup of dressing (I’d probably go for more like a cup), which then I would use at least 1/2 tablespoon of taco seasoning(or 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon chili powder). Then just keep sprinkling a little more seasoning on until it has the right Mexican – y flavoring for you.
This recipe calls for roasted peppers and onions (Follow the directions for how to roast in onion in that link). I can’t imagine roasted peppers and onions and then using that night in a pizza – that takes way too much time. The way I handle that is by making a weekly menu. So I will plan on Kevin bbqing say on Monday. Maybe he’ll do turkey burgers for dinner. Well, I’ll also marinate some chicken breasts and have him roast some veggies, because I have “Santa Fe Pizza” down on the menu for Wednesday. Now I’m ahead of the game for dinner on Wednesday. I’m all about anything that makes life easier.
Grilled Chicken and Veggie Pizza
Ingredients
For Pizza Sauce
- low fat ranch dressing
- Mexican seasoning
For Pizza
- 1 pizza dough
- 2 roasted onions
- 2 roasted peppers
- 1 smoked or grilled chicken breast
- 2 cups of mozzarella cheese
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Grill your pizza dough according to our instructions in our pizza dough recipe
- Spread the sauce on the cooked side of the pizza.
- Add sliced peppers, sliced onions, sliced chicken breast and cover with cheese. Sprinkle some salt and pepper over the top.
- Grill pizza or you can cook it in the oven at 400 for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted.