Taco Pizza

I’ve never heard of Taco pizza until this week when my eldest son asked for it specifically. Because he can be such a finicky eater I was anxious to please him, plus I coincidentally had left-over taco meat from the prior evening. I wanted a crisper crust than my usual dough, so gave this recipe from Bobby Flay a try. Bobby Flay said that using bread flour would yield a much crisper crust, but unfortunately it was bready; not at all crisp. But the toppings where all straight-forward and my son loved it. I gave it only 3-1/2 stars, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a success. However, there is room for improvement.

Made without a specific recipe, it was good enough to please a teenager.

Comments:

1. Having never even seen a taco pizza before, I guessed at the amount of lettuce. But my son wanted more that included in the picture.
2. If I were making this pizza for myself I would have added diced avocado, but the pizza was not for me.

Rating: 3-1/2 stars.
Cost: $5.
How much work? Low/Medium.
How big of a mess?  Low.
Start time 4:30 PM. Ready at 6:00 PM.

Chris Kimball’s doesn’t have a recipe for Taco Pizza.  My descriptions of how I prepare it today are given below:

Pizza Dough:
1 cups water
3/4 teaspoon sugar
3/4 tablespoon instant dry yeast
2-1/2 cups bread flour (12 ounces)
3/4 teaspoons table salt
1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Warm 1 cup of water in the microwave for 30 seconds until it reached 110-degrees.
2. Combine bread flour, sugar, yeast and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer.  Turn on the standing mixer equipped with dough hook on low-speed and slowly add the water plus 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Mix for 4 minutes until forms a dough ball. Adjust the consistency of the dough by adding 1 tablespoon of flour or water at a time until the desired consistency is obtained.
3. Lightly flour a work surface and knead into a ball. Spray a large bowl with non-stick vegetable spray, add the dough, cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow the dough to double in size; about 1 hour.
4. Meanwhile cook your taco meat and prepare you other toppings.
5. Empty dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and cover with plastic wrap to allow the dough to rest of 10 minutes.
6. Carefully stretch your dough into a thin, round crust.

Pizza Toppings:
8-ounces Taco Meat
8-ounces tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 scallion
1 tomato
2 large leaves of romaine lettuce
8-ounces mozzarella
3-ounces mild cheddar cheese

1. Pre-heat your oven to 400-degrees and set an oven rack to the middle position in your oven.
2. I used about 8-ounces of leftover taco meat, but otherwise cook it while the dough was rising.
3. Add 8-ounces of canned tomato sauce to a small saucepan together with cumin and coriander. Cook over medium burner, stirring occasionally.
4. Meanwhile, shred your mozzarella and cheddar cheese. Thinly slice your scallion; seed and dice you tomato.  Thinly slice your lettuce.
5. Spread your sauce on top of the pre-formed pizza crust, and evenly spread your grated cheeses. Top the pizza with pre-cooked taco meat.
6. Bake the pizza for 15 minutes until the cheese has melted and slightly browned.
7. As the pizza emerges from the oven blot away any excess grease with paper towels.
8. Top pizza  with lettuce, tomatoes, and scallions. Slice and serve.