Smashed Chickpea Taco Pizza

I found this recipe on Pinterest and though it sounded pretty cool. There weren't too many ingredients, but the seasoning helped to pack the pizza with flavor. I also liked that the recipe was incredibly easy to make with little clean up, I like to enjoy my food, not spend hours washing dishes.

Recipe from She Likes Food.

Ingredients: 

-1 refrigerated pizza crust

-1/2 cup cooked chickpeas

-1/2 teaspoon olive oil

-1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

-1/2 teaspoon paprika

-1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

-1/4 teaspoon onion powder

-1 pinch salt

-1 small pinch black pepper

-1/4 cup  taco sauce

-1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Your favorite taco toppings, such as; lettuce, tomato, black olives, jalapenos, etc

In a small bowl combine the chickpeas, olive oil and seasoning. Stir to coat the chickpeas in the seasoning. Pour them into a small skillet and heat until warmed. Return them to the bowl and lightly smash them with a fork. 

To build your pizza, spread the prepared crust onto a parchment covered pan. Top the crust with taco sauce, the smashed chickpeas, 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese and any taco toppings you'd like to add. I added tomato and jalapeno. 

Bake according to the package directions of your pizza dough. And then add any non-oven friendly toppings once you remove the pizza from the oven. I added some lettuce. 

  

This pizza was wonderful. The spices and the taco sauce created a wonderful savory pizza base, there was just enough cheese to make me happy, but not too much to mask all of the other ingredients. The tomato and jalapeno added a nice burst of freshness, as did the lettuce. This is something that I will be making again, I was very happy with how the pizza turned out and there are endless possibilities with different taco toppings.