Elotes - Pizza Version

 

As a child growing up on the East Coast, summer did not officially arrive until my mom made fresh corn on the cob. My sisters and I pretended that our mouths were like typewriters, furiously munching through each row of corn, and returning to the beginning to start anew, like the return cartridge of an electric typewriter, similar to the one that my mom typed my father’s handwritten novels on. 

Since it was the 1970’s and home cooking was less globalized than today, I had never heard of elotes AKA Mexican street corn. Not until I arrived in California more than 15 years ago did I learn of this magical recipe. When I found it deconstructed in a pizza, I knew I had to try it.

The Berkeley Cheese Board sold me this version back in 2008 and I have been making it at home ever since.

Elotes Pizza

(makes 14 inch pizza)

pizza dough for medium pie

2 cobs fresh corn, shucked

5 oz low-moisture mozzarella, shredded

3 oz chevre or goat fromage blanc

1 jalapeno, sliced in thin rounds

¼ cup cilantro, minced

2 limes

Preheat the oven to the highest temperature. Spread dough into the size pizza you desire on a baking pan. Sprinkle mozzarella evenly over it - it will be a thin layer. Scatter corn evenly over pizza, dot with slices of jalapeno and then dot with the chevre. Bake until cheese is melted and dough is cooked through, 8-10 minutes depending on the size of your pizza and the temperature of the oven. Once it is cooked, immediately remove from the oven and squeeze both limes all over the pizza - this is a key flavor, so use additional limes to make sure you saturate the pizza. Sprinkle cilantro on top and slice and serve.

Hugs!