J-Lo & DeNiro

Okay, so don’t tell anyone, but I actually didn’t start eating Mexican food til I was late in my college years. My fam just never really went out for Mexican; we were more the Italian strip mall, order-in Chinese suburban family. I guess the closest thing was my brother ordering the chicken fajitas at TGI Fridays.

Regardless, now my fridge is always filled with something that has an Hispanic feel to it – jalepenos, chipotles, tortillas… By using the plethora of Hispanic markets down the street to my advantage, I can easily throw together one of my go-to dinners – tortilla pizza. Tortilla pizza works best as a leftover haven.

Find out how Hispanics and Italians mingle post-jump

Tortilla Pizza

Thinly slice queso para freir (cheese for frying) and cover the surface of tortillas hechas a manos (made by hand,) which are thicker than the regular corn and flour tortillas. Drop that under the broiler for about 2 minutes, or until the cheese just starts to brown.

While that cooks, dice up leftover chicken. Or for a veggie version, just quarter and de-seed cherry tomatoes tossed with S&P and olive oil. And if you’re obsessed like me, dice up some avocado for your garnish.

Take the tortillas out and add your diced chicken or veggie. Sprinkle with garlic powder, cumin, chipotle powder, scallions and parsley. If you’d like a more sauce-y pizza feel, drizzle your favorite salsa over your toppings. Throw some more thinly sliced cheese on top and it goes back under the broiler so it heats up the chicken and melts the top layer of cheese.

Serve with avocado. Slice like a pizza pie.