TROPICAL PIZZA

Ingredients:

6 Rhodes Dinner Rolls

4 Tbs. butter

1/3 Cup dark brown sugar

2 oz. cream cheese

1 Mango, ripe (squishy)

¼ Pineapple, Fresh

¼ Cup shredded sweetened Coconut

I love, love, love Mango’s. From the time I first tasted a Mango it has been my favorite fruit and one of my favorite flavors of all times. Sadly, my Mother is deadly allergic to Mango’s so we didn’t have them at home much. As a teenager we traveled extensively throughout Mexico which is mostly a tropical country. In Mexico you can find Mango’s and other tropical fruit sold by street vendors who serve them in a cup with lemon, salt, and chile. What a yummy treat! As an adult I fell in love with a Mango Tart that features baked Mango. This recipe was inspired by my love for anything Mango but especially, the amazing flavors of the fresh and baked Mango’s.

Directions:

Place your 6 Rhodes Dinner Rolls on sprayed wrap until they have defrosted. Once defrosted, kneed them together into a ball and place them on the sprayed wrap to rise. Once your dough has risen or fluffed, roll it into a circle so as to cover your pizza tin.

Turn on your oven to 350 degrees F.

Make sure to spray you pizza tin before you place your rolled dough. Then pinch the edges so that you have a small crust edge.

This pizza will produce a thin but soft crust which will be perfect for this pizza. Your crust will not be too thin just right.

Take a small bowl and add your dark brown sugar. In a cup, heat your butter for 30 seconds in the microwave. Combine your sugar and butter in the small bowl.

With a baking brush, brush some of this butter-sugar mixture onto just the edges of your pizza.

Now take your cream cheese and also place it in a cup and microwave it for 30 seconds.

Add your cream cheese to the remaining butter-sugar mixture and combine it.

Now pour the mixture onto your pizza and spread it evenly over all of the pizza.

When your oven has completed the pre-heat, you can place the pizza in the oven for 8 minutes at 350 degrees F.

During the 8 minutes, you will peel your Mango, cut it and dice it. For those who have not worked with Mango’s before, you should know that when Mango’s are ripe, they are squishy and easily peeled.

Once you have peeled it, beware of the seed. It is large and shaped like an oblong UFO. It is very tough so you will not be able to cut into it which is helpful in trying to get all of the meat off of it. Now dice all of your mango and set it aside.

You will now take your Pineapple and cut and dice it.

After your pizza has baked for 8 minutes, take it out of the oven. Don’t turn off the oven as you are not done yet.

Place some of the diced Mango and Pineapple on the pizza making sure to spread out the flavors.

Now place the pizza back in the oven for an additional 8 minutes. Baking time may vary but your pizza crust will be dark brown because of the sugar mixture.

Now add the rest of your diced Mango and Pineapple making sure to not stack the fruit but to make sure that all of your pizza is covered with the baked or fresh fruit.

Now just sprinkle your shredded coconut all over the pizza and your masterpiece is done.

My friend and fab babysitter Elena Richardson was the first to try this recipe. She gave it a 10 out of 10. When I asked her why, she responded that the creaminess of the baked Mango in contrast with the fresh fruit gave it a lot of flavors and textures with the sauce that was the perfect complement to the Mango. It was not too sweet and very light. She explained that she is a very picky eater and does not even like Pizza but this crust was perfect. All of us who use Rhodes dough know this to be true. After she ate half of the pizza on her own she asked if perhaps her Mother could learn to make this pizza for breakfast. I had notthought about it but sure. So, I introduce you to the Tropical Pizza a great treat for dessert or Breakfast.