A Mexican Pizza "al Pastor" to Delight Your Kids

By Liliana Moyano for Shine Latina

Kid's Pizza al Pastor
Kid's Pizza al Pastor

When my family gathers, they make sure to cook enough food to eat and take leftovers home. My nieces (four and two years old) enjoy our dinner parties to the fullest; they are always in the kitchen wanting to help out and get involved. They end up setting the table and adding final touches like putting cilantro on soups and decorating their own dishes. This is a great way for them to feel included, and learn about different types of food. They are more engaged when they help, and ask about every item on the table.

Last week, my sister invited the entire family to have lunch at her house for some delicious roasted pork. She cooked it for six hours in garlic, Coca-Cola and brown sugar. Since we had a lot of leftovers we decided to make something fun for the kids. As we went through the fridge, we found tortillas, pineapple, cilantro and queso fresco (fresh Latin cheese). The flour tortilla made a perfect base for a kid-friendly pizza. We crushed and cooked the pineapple with brown sugar, making a fun sauce to top the pizza in a smiley face design. It's a version of a kid's tacos al pastor (the traditional Mexican tacos served with pineapple) without the spiciness. The girls loved it and wanted to make them on their own with a little help from mami and tía Lili.

Try this recipe with my fun dessert served in a fruit bowl

Roasted pork
Ingredients
(10 servings)
1 5-lb. pork shoulder
Garlic salt, to taste

Kid's Pizza al Pastor
Kid's Pizza al Pastor


6 garlic cloves, minced
1 liter Coca-Cola
Brown sugar, to taste

Directions
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. On a baking pan, place the pork shoulder and cover with garlic salt, minced garlic and brown sugar. Work the seasonings into the pork by rubbing them well, making sure the ingredients cover the entire shoulder. Add Coke to the pan, and cook for six hours. Every 30 minutes, spread the juices on the pork, and add one or two teaspoons of additional brown sugar. Once the pork is done, let it sit for 15 minutes before serving, and once again cover it with the juices from the pan.

Pineapple sauce
Ingredients
½ fresh pineapple, cut into chunks
2 tbsp. brown sugar

Directions
Blend the pineapple chunks without adding any water or liquids. Place the mix into a pan, and add brown sugar. Cook on medium heat for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Kid's pizza al pastor

Kid's Pizza al Pastor
Kid's Pizza al Pastor

Ingredients
(2 servings)
4 flour tortillas
4 oz. roasted pork, shredded
2 oz. queso fresco, grated
2 oz. cilantro, chopped
2 oz. pineapple sauce

Directions
Preheat the oven at 300 degrees, and cook the tortillas for five minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven, and top each tortilla with some of the roasted pork, queso fresco and cilantro. Finally, decorate the tortilla with a pineapple happy face and serve.

Notes

Kid's Pizza al Pastor
Kid's Pizza al Pastor

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Queso fresco is a hard cheese that can be found in the Latin supermarkets as queso fresco, queso Latino or queso para freir (frying cheese). It has a solid texture and it usually comes salted. If you cannot find this type of cheese, mozzarella can be a good option. Stay away from strongly flavored cheeses that may overpower the pork.

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