Put a Little Giddyup in Your Pizza!

I was perusing the September Everyday Easy recipe sheet this week (I know … I’m a little behind the times!), and when I saw that Rose Ahrens’ recipe for Southwest Pizza had a rice crust, I thought, “Hmmm … I bet a person with braces on their teeth who has been craving pizza for a very long time would be able to bite through a rice crust. Yay!” I could hardly contain my excitement. (If you haven’t heard, I got braces on my teeth about three months ago and eating hasn’t been the same since. But I digress.)

Though the pizza was a little labor intensive to make (you’ll need to cook some rice, cook some sausage, slice, dice and stir, and pre-bake the crust), it was worth the effort. A friend of mine also pointed out that the recipe is gluten-free. But whether you have braces or not, avoid gluten or embrace it, you will like this pizza! It’s zesty and delicious – and my husband said that if he hadn’t watched me making the crust he wouldn’t have realized it was rice.

So put on your cowboy hat and try a Southwestern Pizza! Here’s the link to the September “Everyday Easy.”

j*a*N*e

Southwestern Pizza

Submitted by Rose Ahrens (WI)

Ingredients

• ½ tsp. Seasoned Salt
• 3 cups prepared rice
• ¾ cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 2 slightly beaten eggs
• 15 oz. can tomato sauce
• 3-4 tsp. Wahoo! Chili^® Seasoning Blend
• 16 oz. cooked, crumbled pork sausage
• ¼ cup sliced olives
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese

Directions

Combine first 4 ingredients. Press into a lightly buttered 15 x 10 pan. Bake 15 minutes at 350º to form rice crust. Combine tomato sauce and Wahoo! Chili^® Seasoning Blend; spread over crust. Add remaining ingredients. Bake at 350° an additional 15-20 minutes until cheese melts. Remove; let stand 5 minutes. Cut into squares. Makes 10-12 servings.

Southwestern Pizza

Testing Notes:

• I used brown rice, which takes about an hour to cook. This had me feeling quite impatient … but it tasted good in the end and was worth the wait. I think you could use any kind of rice though – even instant should work fine.
• The pork sausage I used didn’t have much zip, so I stirred in a rounded teaspoon of Tuscany Bread Dipping Mix™ … yum!
• I didn’t have a 15 oz. can of tomato sauce, so I used two 8 oz. cans. You math wizards will note that that’s an extra ounce of sauce. As I was spreading the sauce on the crust it seemed like I may have a bit too much, but I used it all anyway and it was perfect. I’m sure one ounce less would have been perfect too.
• I love olives, so I decided to use both green and black since I had both on hand. I also had a chunk of bell pepper, so I sliced that on top too.
• The recipe calls for 1 cup of mozzarella cheese for the top. I used 2 cups, because I’m just not into cheese deprivation.
• I baked the pizza the full 20 minutes … maybe even 25. I like the top to be slightly brown and toasty.
• My family really enjoyed this. My daughter talked about it at school the next day, and her friend was so intrigued she asked for a slice to try! Since we had leftovers, we packaged some up for her too. It’s always fun to share, and this recipe makes a lot.

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