Sunday, September 8, 2013

Hatch Green Chile Pizza with Soyrizo and Goat Cheese


Over the past few years, I've read countless entries by Bridget and Shawnda about Hatch Green Chiles. Being from the Midwest and South, I didn't realize the seemily cult following they have. When I got to Boise a month ago and went to our amazing Whole Foods, I saw a man in the parking lot turning a giant drum, fresh fire roasting the chiles. I couldn't not buy some! I took home a few pounds, peeled them and then was stumped on what to do with them. 



So I decided to just make my first batch of chiles into an enchilada sauce and use it in a few dishes (another will be posted this week). Sunday has become our new pizza night, since I don't have my kitchen aid, I just buy Whole Foods' amazing prepared dough. I had half a package of soy-chorizo in the freezer, and decided to google pizza with chorizo, and came across this recipe from Rick Bayless. The pizza calls for a salsa verde sauce as the base, but I knew my Hatch Green Chile enchilada sauce would be perfect, and it was! 

As I said, I have no appliances out here, no blender, food processor, magic bullet, kitchen aid, you name it, I don't have it! So I have to utilize my knife skills and box grater as much as possible. To make the sauce, rather than puree most of it and leave some small bits of chile, I finely minced it all and cooked it down for a while to hopefully mash the chiles even more. 

The remainder of the pizza was topped with even more deliciousness: goat cheese, thinly sliced red onion and bell peppers, and soy-chorizo. This pizza was full of flavor and definitely will be a new regular for us. The Hatch Green Chiles definitely were spicy, smokey, and live up to the hype!

Hatch Green Chile Pizza with Soyrizo and Goat Cheese
adapted from Rick Bayless

1 lb. pizza dough, homemade or purchased
1 c. Hatch Green Chile enchilada sauce (recipe follows)
6 oz. crumbled chorizo or soy-chorizo, cooked, crumbled and drained on paper towels
1/4 red onion, sliced thinly
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced thinly
6 oz. goat cheese, crumbled

Hatch Green Chile Enchilada Sauce:
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 large red onion (half minced, half grated directly into pan)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp. flour
2 c. vegetable stock
2 c. roasted, peeled and seeded Hatch Green Chiles
2 tbsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
kosher salt and black pepper

To make enchilada sauce:
Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add olive oil, bring to temperature.
Add onions and garlic, season with salt, and saute for 5 minutes, until softened.
Sprinkle flour over onions and garlic, whisk to coat, once flour is absorbed, add stock.
Whisk well, then add chiles, cumin and coriander.
Bring to a simmer, then turn to low, taste and adjust salt and pepper.
Cook for 20-30 minutes, then transfer some or all to a blender and puree, if desired.
Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer.

To make pizza:
Preheat oven to 425*
Stretch dough over a pan dusted with cornmeal or semolina flour.
Top with Hatch Green Chile enchilada sauce, goat cheese, crumbled coy-chorizo, sliced onion and peppers.
Bake for 18-24 minutes, until crust is crisp, golden and puffed.
Slice and serve immediately, garnish with fresh chopped cilantro, if desired.

2 comments:

Joanne said...

If I someday get to try hatch chiles, it will be kind of the happiest day ever. They just don't seem to make it to NYC!

Ashlee said...

I hear you can order them and have them shipped frozen! I don't know that they'd taste AS good, but worth a try!