I’m not a big football fan. It’s just not my thing. But like many others, I honor the American institution and for Super Bowl you’ll often find me stretched out on the couch with the Sunday New York Times scattered around me and a glass of wine on the easy-to-reach end table. I even occasionally glance up to check the score, look at uniforms (which team is which color?), or comment on the commercials. As a cook, my main interest is in the half-time spread and that’s as it should be. As a musician, I often really enjoy the half-time show, and that cook persona gets her work done early so her singer self can enjoy what is surely the best part of the day. I mean, think Blues Brothers, Paul McCartney, and Lady Gaga as earlier favorites. Maroon 5 this year promises to be spectacular!
Complete Super Bowl Watching Info Here.
The other fun part of the “holiday” (a term I’ll use loosely, but surely as football is a kind of American religion and this is its zenith moment of the year), is that it’s a day when a bit of junk food — or at a dish or two that’s not created with total health in mind — is acceptable in most households. Skip the carb and fat counting and forget the food shaming. (“Oh, I’m so bad.” is a typical comment I dislike hearing.) It’s kind of like last May when I made…
INSTANT POT BBQ BEEF SANDWICHES WITH COLESLAW AND SPICY PICKLES
There is, naturally, not a thing in the world wrong with BBQ Beef, but add rolls, coleslaw, or potato chips, and it is starting to feel a bit festive. If you’re not thinking Chili-Cheddar Biscuit Pizza, you might consider this fast pressure cooker meal. You could even make it Friday or Saturday and reheat in a slow cooker Sunday afternoon. Do toast the buns!
Given this week’s weather (my front yard Monday morning–a photo taken in color, by the way) something warm is certainly called for. Looking back over the years, it’s also obvious pizza and chili come at the top of the list for Super Bowl blowouts.
American Pizza Community dot com give us this tidbit of info:
Americans frequently turn to pizza for celebratory occasions and Super Bowl Sunday is no exception – last year, an estimated 12.5 million pizzas were sold.
As I thought over ideas for this year’s extravaganza, I kept coming back to combining the two favorite half-time meals. There’s nothing new on the face of the earth, but I’d never made chili pizza before and maybe you haven’t either. I began with the who-knows-why? assumption I’d use a traditional pizza dough crust, but the more I thought about it, the more I leaned toward a quicker, simpler, no-fear, more flavorful crust. Many cooks, even bakers, shy away from the word yeast, so I’d remove that stumbling block and use biscuit dough–why not? And, just to make things interesting, I’d make it Cheddar biscuit dough amped up with lots of freshly ground black pepper and a healthy dose of dried oregano.
If you’d like a pizza made with yeast dough, consider my sheet pan pizza:
If you’d like small, easy pizzas made with purchased naan bread, try this:
But if you’re a biscuit maker from way back or would just like to give it a go, this is your day. The biscuit dough is most easily made in a food processor where the butter and cheese are cut into the flour mixture in a nanosecond, but it doesn’t take much longer with a pastry cutter or even a couple of small, sharp knives. In fact, your fingers will do, though it’ll help if you don’t have really warm hands.
Make the quickly cooked chili first (mine isn’t very spicy, but add heat as desired, please), and keep it warm while you first pre-heat the oven, then stir up the dough and pat it into a really-well greased half-sheet pan. You’ll bake the crust all by its lonesome first, then take it out, add the chili and cheese, and return it to the oven just to heat really well and melt that gooey cheese. Do use the very best extra-sharp (white) Cheddar you can find and avoid bags of maybe dried out grated cheese if possible. It’ll make all the difference in the world. You’ll need the cheese for both the dough and to top the pizza, so buy a 2-pound loaf to make sure you have enough. Letting any pizza rest a few minutes is always necessary to avoid the runny cheese mess, and this one’s no different. Serve it hot, though, with your favorite toppings. We liked shredded Romaine lettuce, chopped green or red onions, sliced kalamata olives, diced tomatoes or avocados, and sour cream. Even a spoonful or two of extra chili on top wouldn’t go amiss. Try this and enjoy my new printable recipe gizmo!
CHILI-CHEDDAR BISCUIT PIZZA
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil divided (2 for the chili and 1 to brush on the dough)
- 1 each: large onion and red bell pepper diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 teaspoon Crushed red pepper
- Chili Powder
- Fresh ground black pepper
- 2 pounds ground lean turkey
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 28- ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 6- ounce can tomato paste
- 1/2 cup each: dry red wine + water
- 2 tablespoons each: Dijon-style mustard and fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons dill weed
- 1 teaspoon each: kosher salt and granulated sugar
- 1 can drained and rinsed pinto or black beans
- Cheddar biscuit dough recipe below
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cups grated extra-sharp cheddar 2 ounces
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- Toppings: chopped onions sliced kalamata olives, diced tomatoes or avocados, shredded lettuce, sour cream or as desired
Instructions
MAKE THE CHILI:
- Heat a 6-quart stock pot or sauté pan over medium flame for a minute or two; drizzle in the olive oil. Let sit another minute until hot (shimmering) and add the onion, pepper, and garlic. Stir in the crushed red pepper, a tablespoon of chili powder, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Stir and cook 7 or 8 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Add the turkey, breaking it up well and season with the cumin along with another tablespoon of chili powder. Cook, stirring regularly, until meat is browned and there is no pink showing. Stir in the tomatoes and tomato paste, wine and water, the Dijon-style mustard, lemon juice, dill weed, salt, sugar, and drained beans. Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer 15 minutes or so, stirring often, until the wine has cooked down and the sauce is thick. Turn off the heat and cover until needed.
PAT THE DOUGH INTO A GREASED PAN, BAKE. ADD CHILI+CHEESE, BAKE AGAIN:
- Grease a rimmed sheet pan (18″x13″) well. Turn the biscuit dough out onto the pan and divide it into several pieces, scattering them evenly. Using floured hands, press and pat the dough into the pan so it is as level as possible; it should be around or a little more than a 1/2-inch thick. Make sure you press the dough up the sides of the pan a half-inch or so, too. Brush dough all over with the tablespoon of olive oil. Bake ONLY the dough for 20 minutes, pressing it down with a spatula and reversing pan half-way through the baking time to make sure the crust bakes evenly. Remove from oven. Ladle 4 cups of the chili over the dough and spread evenly. Sprinkle with the 2 cups of cheddar. Grind a few grinds of black pepper over all and sprinkle with the teaspoon of dried oregano. Bake for another 10 minutes or until the cheese is well-melted. Don’t over bake. Let rest 5 minutes. Cut into squares or rectangles; garnish as you like. Spoon on a little of the extra chili over the slices, if desired. Serve hot.
Notes
TIP: Use a pastry blender to easily break up the cooking ground turkey. While we’re at it, use the pastry blender on cooked eggs for egg salad, too!
Dough for Chili-Cheddar Biscuit Pizza
Ingredients
- 4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 12 tablespoons cold salted butter cut into ½ inch pieces (1 ½ sticks)
- 2 ounces extra sharp cheddar cheese grated (1 cup)
- 1 ½ cups milk
Instructions
- Stir together dry ingredients (flour – oregano) in a medium bowl or in a food processor bowl. Add cold butter and cheese and using a pastry blender, two knives, your fingers or the steel blade in a food processor, cut in the butter and cheese until the mixture is pebbly. Pour in milk all at once and stir or pulse until dough forms. Don’t over mix.
Notes
WINE: Syrah–an inexpensive one. Beer might be more in line for a lot of people; choose something Mexican or light and frisky.
I’m using a new Word Press tool for the first time and, techie that I’m not, it’s taking a bit of getting used to. Forgive the extra spaces, differently-sized fonts, and assorted other small problems and changes. I’ll get it under control soon–hopefully. Arghh. Until then, stay warm, and enjoy the game whether or not you’re a football lover…
Alyce
Wow! This sounds great. I also like the idea of those small
naan pizzas.
Thanks, Mary; it’s not for skinny crust pizza lovers, but we really enjoyed it. I made it twice in two days now :/ We have plenty!! By the way, here’s another naan pizza I make: https://moretimeatthetable.com/2016/05/10/grilled-naan-pizza-with-carmelized-onions-and-gruyere-cheese/
Happy Tuesday, my friend!
Pingback: Mesa Apple Tart and Other Miracles – More Time at the Table