Inspired by the grilled cheese martini now available at
Beecher's Handmade Cheese in New York, I wanted to make a savory cocktail that evoked all the flavors of a good pizza. After much experimentation and a couple of terrible hangovers, I developed a slightly Mexican take on pepperoni pizza and alcohol:
the
pizza margarita.
The base of this drink is tequila infused with chorizo, yellow bell peppers and strong buffalo cheese. This makes an interesting and very drinkable spirit on its own (known here in the lab as "tequizo"), but can be rounded out to full cocktail with a little frozen tomato juice and, depending how strong you like your drinks, crushed ice or mineral water. It should be garnished with chorizo-stuffed olives and a wedge of cheese.
An ordinary margarita would contain Cointreau or Triple Sec as well as fruit (lime) juice and tequila, but I found that the sweetness and citrus notes detracted from the true pizza experience. For people who prefer a slightly sweeter cocktail, I recommend the
Hawaiian pizza margarita, a variant that includes pineapple rum.
Ingredients:-
200ml tequila
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100g chorizo sausage
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100g of soft, stinky cheese - I recommend Quadrello di Bufala, Taleggio or Muenster
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Half a bell pepper
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Olive oil
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40ml tomato juice
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3 olives
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A handful of black peppercorns
Variant - Hawaiian pizza margarita:-
As above, but with an extra 25ml of pineapple rum