Beef Birria Pizza

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the diced white onion, sliced ginger, and salt. Sauté for a couple of minutes until the onions start to turn translucent.

Add the sliced garlic, Guajillo chili powder, black pepper, dried oregano, ground cumin, ground cinnamon, and ground cloves to the pot. Stir and sauté for about 1 minute to wake up the spices.

Pour in the fire-roasted crushed tomatoes and rinse the can with 1 cup of water, adding it to the pot. Add the bay leaves and stir everything together.

Cut the beef chuck into approximately 2-inch pieces, following the natural muscle separations. Try to keep the pieces as uniform as possible for even cooking.

Add the beef chuck, chopped carrots, chopped celery, white vinegar, honey, and 4 cups of beef broth to the pot. Stir to combine.

Bring the mixture to a simmer, then cover the pot, reduce the heat to low, and let it simmer for 1.5 hours.

Uncover the pot, stir, and continue simmering gently on low for another 1.5 hours, or longer, until the beef is fork-tender. During this uncovered simmering, the sauce will reduce and thicken. Skim off any fat that rises to the top and reserve it.

Once the beef is tender, remove it from the pot using a slotted spoon and set it aside to cool. Reserve the remaining sauce in the pot.

Ladle out about 1.5 cups of the thickened sauce from the pot and reserve it; this will be your pizza sauce.

To the remaining sauce in the pot, add 2 more cups of beef broth to thin it out for the consommé. Let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes, adjusting with more broth if you prefer a thinner consistency.

Preheat your oven to 500°F (260°C). For each pizza, take 8 oz of pizza dough and press/stretch it out to a 12-inch circle (or desired shape). Dust a baking sheet with 1 tbsp of cornmeal and transfer the dough onto it.

Spread about 0.25 cup of the reserved birria pizza sauce over the dough, leaving at least a half-inch unsauced around the outside for the crust.

Scatter 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese and 1 cup of shredded Monterey Jack cheese over the sauce.

Distribute 0.25 cup of sliced pickled pepperoncini and 0.25 cup of sliced pickled red Fresno peppers evenly over the cheese.

Tear apart the cooled beef birria into smaller pieces and generously place it over the pizza toppings.

Heat the reserved skimmed birria fat until brushable. Brush the crust of the pizza with the fat for flavor and color. Also, brush some onto the beef pieces to help them crisp up.

Bake the pizza in the preheated 500°F oven for about 12 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the cheese is melted and bubbly.

For an extra crispy bottom crust, carefully place the baked pizza (still on the baking sheet) directly over a gas flame on your stovetop. Move it around and spin it for 1-2 minutes until the bottom is nicely toasted.

Brush a little more birria fat onto the beef (optional) and then garnish the pizza with finely diced white onion and torn cilantro leaves.

Transfer the pizza to a cutting board and slice it into 6 pieces. Serve immediately with the hot consommé for dipping and fresh lime wedges on the side.