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Do y’all remember that carnitas recipe I shared a couple of weeks ago? Well, I do believe that I promised you a solution to the leftovers.
First, you grab one of those dry ice packs that fancy people use for shipping cold food. Then you pack that, along with the leftover carnitas, into a box. Next you drop it off at the post office and have the leftovers shipped directly to me.
Problem solved!
Fine. Whatever. I’m scared of the post office too. I don’t have too many phobias, but bugs/spiders and the post office are up there at the top of the list, if you must know. So, I won’t blame you if you are also frightened of the post office and would rather just eat your leftovers yourself. It’s completely selfish of you, but I guess I can sort of understand.
You’ll probably have a hard time not just eating the leftover meat in tacos, because honestly, those carnitas are fabulous, right? If you can manage it, though, try this Carnitas Pizza. The dough is super simple to whip up and is really quite quick for a yeast dough!
I topped the dough with a nice layer of salsa verde, a couple handfuls of grated monterey jack (though pepper jack would be very nice too), and lots of meat. I also threw in some sauteed onions and peppers for extra flavor. This pizza was phenomenal and I hope you’ll give it a try!
Carnitas Pizza
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 3/4 cup warm water about 110 degrees
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the toppings:
- 1/2 cup salsa verde or more to taste
- 2 handfuls Monterey or pepper jack cheese
- 1 onion thinly sliced
- 1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
- 1-2 cups leftover Carnitas to taste
Instructions
- To prepare the dough, place the warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast and sugar on top and let bloom, about 10 minutes.
- Add the flour, salt, and olive oil to the yeast mixture and turn the mixer (fitted with the dough hook) to medium. Knead until the dough comes together to form a smooth dough. Remove dough to an oiled bowl and place in the oven with the light turned on.
- Let rise for one hour, or until doubled in bulk.
- Heat a medium skill over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan. Add the onion and peppers to the skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and beginning to brown, about 5-10 minutes. Set aside.
- When the dough has doubled, punch it down.
- Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
- Roll the dough out on a well floured surface to a 12 inch circle and place on a pizza stone or pan.
- Spread the salsa verde in a thin layer of the dough, adding more salsa verde if desired. Sprinkle with the cheese and top with the meat and vegetables.
- Bake on the middle rack for 8-10 minutes or until the edges of the crust are golden brown and the cheese is melted.
Celeste says
Sorry-how much yeast?
Karly says
Oh no, it must have gotten deleted. All fixed now. 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast or 1 packet. 🙂
Maggie A Martin says
Kaaarleeeeeee! What are Carnitas LEFTOVERS???? Never had leftovers.
I will send you an empty FED X box and you can pack it with Carnitas Leftovers and send it to me.
THEN I’ll know what they are. Carnitas are eaten before I can finish cooking them here. I want this pizza.
YOU are fabulous
Love Ya!
Maggie
Karly says
Hahaha! Aren’t carnitas the best? 🙂
Kara says
I just came across this when I was searching for leftover carnitas recipes. I made two of these tonight, and they were awesome! I’m usually not a big fan of chili verde sauce, but it was the perfect sauce for this pizza. Can’t wait to check out everything else you’ve made.
Ashley says
Made extra pork just so I could have left overs for this….man my husband and his co works LOVE me bc of this recipe! LoL thank you!!
Ashley @ Kitchen Meets Girl says
I made your carnitas last week (um, no leftovers) and we’re making them again next week. It’s a new favorite around here! I’ll try to save some back next week so we can use it for this pizza. AWESOME.
Jocelyn @BruCrew Life says
What a fabulous idea to throw your leftovers on pizza!! It looks fantastic and I’m sure my family would eat the heck out of this!!! And the post office? I’ve never heard of someone being terrified of that…I have to ask, why???
Noble Pig - Cathy says
Wow..I always buy so much carnitas meat I always have leftovers…brilliant idea.
Tracy says
This pizza looks phenomenal! Guess I need to go back and catch up on those carnitas, too. Yum!!
Elizabeth@ Food Ramblings says
wow- looks so good!!!!
megan @ whatmegansmaking says
oh wow does this look good! I never would have thought of this with leftover carnitas. Although I have to ask – you’re scared of the post office??
Karly says
There are always so many people in there and parking is a nightmare and you have to drive down this freaky little alley to get out of the parking lot and the lines are long and the workers are unpleasant and I never know the cheapest way to mail something and what does first class mail even mean and ohmygod, that place just freaks me out.