Here’s a delicious fusion of Tex-Mex and Italian cuisines. I topped my homemade pizza with steak flavored with fajita spices. For an easy pizza crust, I use a ready-to-bake thin pizza crust such as Pillsbury pizza crust. It easily unrolls to a thin crust which fills the kitchen with a fresh dough aroma.

A tip for a crisp bottom on the pizza is to place a baking sheet in the oven while it preheats. Then put the dough on the heated sheet. Salsa coats the dough. The heat is up to you. Use a spicy salsa if you like it really hot.

Helpful Hints

You can use a readymade pizza base instead of refrigerated dough. It will save time. Omit the first 5 minutes of cooking the dough on its own.

Any type of onion can be used.

Any type of Mexican-style shredded cheese can be used.

TAG GOES HERE

Steak Fajita Pizza

INGREDIENTS

2 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1/2 pound grass fed skirt steak

Olive oil spray

1 cup green bell pepper sliced

1 cup sliced red onion

1/4 cup coarse cornmeal

8 ounce ready-to-bake thin crust pizza dough (such as Pillsbury)

1 cup mild chunky salsa

1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat Monterey Jack cheese

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place a baking sheet on the middle shelf of the oven. Spread chili powder and garlic powder on both sides of the steak. Rub them in with a spoon. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and spray with olive oil spray. Add the steak, onion and green bell pepper. Saute 1 minute. Turn steak over and saute another minute. Remove steak to a cutting board to rest. Continue to saute the green pepper and onion for 5 minutes.

While the steak rests and vegetables continue to saute, spread the cornmeal over a countertop. Unroll the pizza dough according to package instructions onto the cornmeal. Spread the dough out to make an even dough base. When the oven is at temperature, remove the baking sheet and using two large spatulas carefully add the pizza dough to the tray. Return the tray with the dough to the oven for 5 minutes. Remove the tray and spread the dough with the salsa. Slice steak into small pieces, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch. Spread steak, onion and green pepper evenly over the pizza. Sprinkle the Monterey Jack cheese on top. Return the baking tray to the oven and bake 5 minutes. Remove the tray and cut the pizza into 4 pieces and serve on 2 dinner plates. Yield: 2 servings

Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer/Tribune News Service