Shrimp, Avocado & Tomato Pizza

I honestly had no idea what to expect from this pizza.  I had a hundred different directions I was thinking of going with it and I was worried that by trying to combine too many different flavors,  I would end up with a disaster.  I put this on the menu for last week, but I think my fear of failure along with some good rationalization about NEEDING to have  summer fun caused me to go out to eat 5 days last week.  (In my defense I think that’s a personal record, plus once everyone buckles down with school, it will be at least a little bit harder to hang out :-)).  Finally, I decided that I couldn’t  let avocados, tomato, cilantro and limes go to waste, so I concocted this specialty.

Well as you can probably guess based on the fact that I am putting it on the food blog – I really liked this pizza!  It was unique, fresh, flavorful and used up the leftover shrimp I had in the freezer.  (I have a bad habit of buying shrimp and only using half the bag.)   I also used some of the pizza dough I had frozen, which made this pretty easy to put together.  I almost skipped adding the chipotle, but I’m so glad I didn’t because I think it made the meal.  If you are a bacon lover, I think that could also be a nice flavor complement, but I felt like it had enough ingredients without it.  The only part that takes some time is chopping,  so I would recommend doing it at the beginning so you can just go “chop crazy” all at once.  P.S. chopping veggies is a pretty awesome way to wind down!

Shrimp, Avocado and Tomato Pizza

• 1 pizza dough ball
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 T. olive oil
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella and/or provolone cheese
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 2 large tomatos, chopped and drained
• 1 teaspoon adobo sauce or 1 t. finely chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 10-20 medium sized shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 avocado, diced
• Juice of 1/2 a lime

1. Preheat oven to  475°, preferably with a pizza stone.  Roll out the pizza dough. Brush with 2 T. olive oil and 4 cloves of minced garlic. Then spread cheese evenly over the top.

2. In a medium sauté pan  add 1 T. olive oil and bring to medium-high heat.  Add remaining 2 cloves of garlic and stir until fragrant.  Then add the shrimp to the pan and stir for a 1-2 minutes.

3. Add the tomatoes, scallions and chipotle peppers to the pan, and sauté for an additional 2-3 minutes to soften the tomatoes and flavor the shrimp.

4. Spread the shrimp mixture over the pizza, and add a little bit of cheese on top if you feel like it.

5. Bake at 475° for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and immediately top with cilantro and avocado.  Squeeze lime juice over top of the pizza and serve.

A Spice is Nice Original.