It's time for a Blog Party, hosted by Stephanie at Dispensing Happiness.  To participate, I needed to prepare an appetizer and cocktail based on this months theme "Pizza Party!"  Stephanie has challenged us to concoct a "pizza-ish" bite by turning traditional pizza into a unique appetizer.  Immediately I knew what I was going to make, individual masa pizza.

The crust of my "pizza" is made from masa which I formed into disks about 4-inch in diameter.  I topped each mini individual "pizza" with two delectable combinations of toppings.  The resulting "mini masa pizzas" are a fun and creative appetizer to serve at a party.

Before baking and enjoying my little appetizer creations lets start the evening off with a refreshing cocktail.  Tonight's concoction is a twist on a classic, I'm serving a "Peach Orange Margarita".  Be aware, I like them strong!

Peach Orange Margarita

3 oz. tequila
2 oz. fresh orange juice
1 oz. peach schnapps

Combine in an ice filled shaker and give a good shake to mix.  Pour into an ice filled glass garnished with an orange segment.

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After cocktail hour has passed we opened a bottle of red wine to enjoy with our "mini masa pizza".  They turned out absolutely wonderful, adorable and delicious!

The basis for these "pizzas" is homemade masa bread, or in other words, thick tortillas.  Homemade masa bread is something I prepare often and serve in any number of ways.  Tonight I made the simple dough and shaped it as I typically would but instead of grilling the masa bread, I topped the raw dough and baked the "mini masa pizzas" in a very hot oven on a pizza stone.  The result was excellent and definitely something I will repeat often.

Black bean & fire roasted tomato sauce, minced garlic, Manchego, roasted red bell pepper, sliced jalapeno, baked and garnished with lemon and cilantro.

Chimichurri sauce and crumbled Mahon.

Masa Pizza

Prep all you topping ingredients in advance of making the dough. 

Place your pizza stone in the oven and preheat the oven and the pizza stone to 475 degrees.  Once the oven is good and hot, prepare you masa pizzas.

Prepare your masa dough and shape into individual disks, about 4" in diameter as depicted in the following directions.  Don't make your disks too thin or they will be very hard to handle, keeping them a little thicker is better for this application.

Directions for Masa Bread a.k.a. Tortillas.

Since masa is gluten free don't expect the resulting dough to be anything like traditional pizza dough.  Without gluten it will easily fall apart in it's un-cooked state and it must be handled with care.  Be certain to place the masa dough on a well floured and cornmeal dusted pizza peel.  Place your toppings on your masa pizza and when ready to bake use a spatula to help slide your masa pizza onto the pizza stone.  You need to be careful as the dough will easily break apart at this point. 

Bake your mini masa pizzas on a pizza stone in a 475 degree oven for about 10 minutes.  Once cooked, the masa holds together well and it is easy to slide the cooked masa pizza off of the pizza stone and onto your peel. 

Toppings

Masa pizza #1

black bean & fire roasted tomato sauce

garlic, minced

Manchego, crumbled

roasted red bell pepper, thinly sliced (roasted on my gas stove)

jalapeno, thinly sliced

Garnish your baked pizza with a spritz of fresh lemon and cilantro.

Masa pizza #2

chimichurri sauce

Mahon, crumbled

Sauces

Black Bean Spread

1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 14-oz can fire roasted tomatoes, undrained
½ heaping cup onion, coarsely chopped
¼ jalapeno pepper, or to taste
½ tsp kosher salt

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.

Chimichurri Sauce

1 bunch parsley, coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3 T fresh lemon juice
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 T red wine vinegar
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp dried oregano
1 bay leaf
½ tsp kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend well.

Notes:

Keep the toppings to a minimum.

If you don't have a pizza stone simply bake the masa pizzas on a sheet pan or pizza pan.