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PIZZADILLA™ (Tortilla / Quesadilla Pizza)

When I was living in Cabo San Lucas in the 90s, my friend Juan & his brother, who owned a restaurant in CSL, and I got together one evening. The subject was food. I was going to show them how to prepare an American Pizza. Well, because of the altitude & other factors, the pizza was a bust (it didn’t rise to the occasion.) However I came up with an idea: The PIZZADILLA™ – a fusion of pizza and an open-faced quesadilla.

The reader is either going to hate this one or…A tortilla is substituted for the pizza dough. On the negative side, a pizza purist is not going to accept this as legitimate pizza. A connoisseur would insist on a thicker, yeast- dough. On the positive side, it’s: 1) fast & easy, 2) inexpensive, and 3) less fattening & filling. You get most of the tastes, without the mass of dough.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti pizza. Pizza is one of my passions.

Basically the PIZZADILLA™ is: pizza sauce, cheese, and pizza toppings on a tortilla.

(Adjust the following ingredients for tortilla size & personal preferences. These are just suggestions.)
Suggested ingredients for one 8″ PIZZADILLA™
1 8″ Tortilla
1 TBS Olive Oil
2-3 oz. Pizza Sauce or Tomato Paste
3-4 oz. Mozzarella Fresca cheese
1 thinly sliced, peeled, garlic clove
1-2 TBS chopped black olives
2-3 sliced mushrooms
6-8 slices medium tomato, sliced thin
6-8 or more Jalapeno slices
1 TBS Grated Fontinella, Romano or Parmesan cheese
6-8 medium fresh Oregano leaves (or 1 tsp. dried Oregano)
1/4 tsp. Cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. Garlic powder
*See below for extra ingredients

First of all place the tortilla on an ungreased, flat baking pan or foil. You can place the Pizzadilla™ directly on an oven rack to bake.

Use your imagination to create a Pizzadilla™ from any combination of items.

Here are a few of my suggestions:
A.) I start with a larger (quesadilla, enchilada or burrito size) tortilla (8-12 inches)
B.) Brush Olive Oil or garlic infused Olive Oil on the surface (top only) of a tortilla
C.) Spread your favorite **pizza sauce, or **undiluted tomato paste on the oiled tortilla
D.) Arrange slices or shreds of your favorite pizza cheese (I recommend Mozzarella Fresca)

Top with your favorite pizza toppings (here’s what I might do:)
1.) Slice a glove of garlic (very thin slices) and distribute evenly
2.) Add chopped black olives
3.) Add sliced mushrooms
4.) Add thin tomato slices
5.) Add Jalapeno slices
6.) Sprinkle a bit of ***grated cheese on the pizza: Fontinella, Romano or Parmesan
7.) Spread a few fresh ****Oregano leaves on top

Bake in a toaster oven or standard oven (at about 375 degrees) until the cheese is melted and the underside of the tortilla starts to brown (about ten minutes,) remove, slice and pig out.

Hints, Tips and Suggestions:
**I like to use packaged Boboli Pizza Sauce or Tomato Paste straight from the can
***I prefer grated Fontinella but you can use Romano or Parmasan
****Use dried Oregano if you don’t have fresh Oregano
Add a pinch of Cayenne pepper and garlic powder
*For a rich, creamy pizza: Instead of brushing Olive Oil on the tortilla, spread a thin layer of cream cheese on a naked tortilla, add the sauce and continue from D. above
*If you want more quesadilla than pizza, use Mexican Asadero cheese, salsa, taco toppings and cilantro – but then you would have a Mexican pizza or open faced quesadilla.
*Use a taco size tortilla for a quick snack
These are suggestions only, use your imagination to create your own Pizzadilla™…This is a work in progress, use discretion in assembling and balancing your Pizzadilla™.

Find this recipe and others on the LasVegasBuffetClub’s Recipes page.
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