I am a big fan, well, I think my entire family is, of nachos. It’s one of those meals, yes, I said meals, that is easy to throw together and everyone can build their own. We probably have nacho night once every couple of weeks, and it is one of those meals where the kids might explore something new on their nachos, or just build them up with some sort of meat and cheese. The key is that they don’t go in a refusal mode, or cop any attitude when it comes to dinner, and that always wins in my book. Â So this past week as I was thinking of nachos, I thought, hey, why not twist up the nachos a bit and go with some Italian flavors, hence why I came up with these Italian nachos.
Let me just put this out there. I could probably live off of nachos and pizza, so I got the best out of these pizza nachos. You get the comfort of nachos, with any of your favorite pizza toppings. Check out my recipe.
Ingredients:
- Your favorite Crispy Tortilla Chips
- 1/2 green bell pepper, seeds removed, diced
- 1/4 cup of onion, diced
- 1/2 cup of black olives, sliced
- 1/2 cup of pepperoni, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 cup of garlic cream sauce (See Recipe below)
- 1 cup of Colby Jack Cheese, shredded
Garlic Cream Sauce:
- 1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced (or use a microplane if you have it)
- 1/2 cup of heavy cream
- 1/4 cup of 2% milk
- 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, grated
- Generous pinch of salt
- Generous pinch of black pepper
- Very small pinch of red chili flakes
Start by making your sauce. Begin by melting the butter, along with the olive oil on medium to low heat. Once melted, toss in the minced garlic, and give a good stir. Raise the heat up to medium, to medium-high. Add in the cream and milk and give a good stir. Keep stirring until it comes to a boil. Toss in the salt, pepper, and chili flakes, along with the cheese, and continue stirring. The sauce will thicken pretty quick, so continue to stir. Once the sauce is thickened, remove from the burner, and set aside.
When you are ready to make your nachos, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Now I used a cast iron fajita skillet on this one. If you do not have one, don’t worry, simply build your nachos by first adding your chips. Drizzle the garlic cream sauce all over the chips. Top with the onions, pepperoni, olives, and bell pepper. Make sure you get in there and do some great layering leaving no chip left behind.
Top with the colby jack cheese. Place in the preheated oven, and cook until the cheese is nice and bubbly and the veggies are warmed through, roughly 7 minutes or so.
As I sat down in front of the television to watch some football, I yelled to my wife that these could be my go to nachos from here on out. Something about those deluxe pizza flavors when placed on a tortilla chip, just gets your taste buds rocking. Give these a try and let me know what you think!
The great thing about these pizza nachos, much like any nacho, is that you can make them your own way. Don’t like pepperoni? Try something else. Don’t like olives? Try artichokes, or broccoli, or heck, you can see where I’m heading. Use your imagination. I can guarantee you will love them. By the way, the garlic cream sauce will store in the fridge for a handful of days. Feel free to use the leftover on a pizza.
Pizza Nachos
Ingredients
- Your favorite Crispy Tortilla Chips
- 1/2 green bell pepper seeds removed, diced
- 1/4 cup of onion diced
- 1/2 cup of black olives sliced
- 1/2 cup of pepperoni cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 cup of garlic cream sauce See Recipe below
- 1 cup of Colby Jack Cheese shredded
- Garlic Cream Sauce:
- 1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves of garlic minced (or use a microplane if you have it)
- 1/2 cup of heavy cream
- 1/4 cup of 2% milk
- 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese grated
- Generous pinch of salt
- Generous pinch of black pepper
- Very small pinch of red chili flakes
Instructions
- Start by making your sauce. Begin by melting the butter, along with the olive oil on medium to low heat. Once melted, toss in the minced garlic, and give a good stir. Raise the heat up to medium, to medium-high. Add in the cream and milk and give a good stir. Keep stirring until it comes to a boil. Toss in the salt, pepper, and chili flakes, along with the cheese, and continue stirring. The sauce will thicken pretty quick, so continue to stir. Once the sauce is thickened, remove from the burner, and set aside.
- When you are ready to make your nachos, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Now I used a cast iron fajita skillet on this one. If you do not have one, don't worry, simply build your nachos by first adding your chips. Drizzle the garlic cream sauce all over the chips. Top with the onions, pepperoni, olives, and bell pepper. Make sure you get in there and do some great layering leaving no chip left behind.
- Top with the colby jack cheese. Place in the preheated oven, and cook until the cheese is nice and bubbly and the veggies are warmed through, roughly 7 minutes or so.