Fun with Products

In all my pizza-making madness this summer, no experiment has surpassed the TACO PIZZA in magnificence or ease.  No pizza I have had from mohawk bend or cruzer compares.  So, although I typically shun pre-made anything, this pizza--which I only made because I was entertaining and had no time to cook--deserves to be recorded here.  And anyway, a purist could make all the components from scratch...

Taco Pizza

Ingredients

1 pre-made pizza dough

chipotle salsa

1/2 package Trader Joe's soyrizo (or similar--)

guacamole, homemade or otherwise

chili corn salsa

cilantro (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven and roll out pizza dough according to directions.  Spread generously with salsa, and then chorizo.  Bake according to directions.
2. When pizza is done baking and slightly cooler, top with a layer of guacamole and then a layer of chili corn salsa.  Sprinkle with cilantro if desired, and serve hot.

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Secondly!  In the same neighborhood where you can find tacos and pizza (though not, I think? taco pizza), there is this.

So mysterious, and at $1.99, I had to give it a try.  "Pepper, herbs, & spices" indeed make for a tasty combination, and I love that it's "BEST WITH MEATS, CHICKEN, SEAFOOD, AND VEGETABLE."  I'm pretty curious what that leaves as second-best.

It's really interesting that Jon's also sells something called ajvar, which has to be related, right?  But the ajvar I've bought is much bulkier--with eggplant, peppers, etc--more like a spread or a relish or a dip, whereas this ajika is more of a spice paste, like the harissa recipe I've been using.  In any case, I've tasted this stuff, and it's very good, but I'm not sure what to do with it.  It's spicy and savory, but also rather sour.  It's sort of half way in between harissa and sumac.  I feel like it might be really good in a variation on this recipe for carrots and green beans with caraway, harissa, and pistachios, or in one of these carrot salads.