Taco Pizza

NOTE: This recipe makes approximately two 12 inch-ish pizzas, one large cookie sheet size pizza, or eight-ish personal pizzas. If you don’t need that much pizza, you can easily freeze half the dough and half the meat mixture for another time. Just put the extra portions in freezer bags and chuck them in the freezer. WOO! Easy pizza on a lazy day! Just remember if you’re only using half, you only need half the cheese. Unless you’re a cheese lover that is. Then go ahead and use however much you want!

Combine the water, yeast, sugar, and 1 cup of the flour in a large bowl. Mix well. Add the oil, salt, and remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough holds its shape.

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 – 10 minutes. If the dough becomes sticky, sprinkle a little flour over it. Form the dough into a ball and plop it in a lightly oiled bowl (twice the size of the ball). Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size.

Once the dough has risen, place it on a lightly floured surface and knead a few times to get out any air bubbles. Cover with a towel while you prepare the meat sauce.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Brown the beef over medium heat, breaking it up into bitty pieces (I mash mine with a potato masher) until well browned, and drain off the grease. Stir in the taco seasoning, enchilada sauce, water, and sliced olives. Cover and let simmer on medium heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Cut the dough into two or eight (or however many you want actually — bite size pizzas?) equal pieces or leave whole if you’re making one large pizza. Roll out each piece to about 1/3 inch thick (thinner if you like thin crust or thicker if you like thick) and place on an oiled cookie sheet or pizza pan. Divide the meat mixture and cheese evenly on each crust. Bake for 20 minutes or until the pizza(s) are ooey and gooey and bubbly and brown. Remove from the oven, cut into pieces, and top with the taco toppings of your choice (lettuce, tomato, etc). Enjoy!