My second gourmet pizza project began when I saw the basis for a great taco pizza recipe on Pizzamarketplace.com. I made a batch of Bill’s Traditional dough allowing it to rise in the breadmaker for almost 2 hours by mistake! It was over the top of the bread pan. I removed it, balled it and placed the balls in the refrigerator for later in the evening. The balls continued to rise to more than twice their size by 7:00 pm.

I gathered and prepared all of the ingredients for the taco pizza while the dough proofed. Here are the ingredients:

Base:
2/3 c - Taco Sauce
2/3 c - Pizza Sauce (I used my Neapolitan Sauce)
1/4 c - Refried beans
1 bag - Ortega brand Taco meat seasoning
1 lb. - Ground Beef
1 1/2 c - Mozzarella cheese

Topping (after baking):
Shredded Cheddar cheese
Shredded Lettuce
Chopped Tomato
Sliced Black Olives
Sour Creme

The beef was browned in a skillet and drained. Then I mixed in the packet of taco meat seasoning and some water as per the instructions on the bag. Assembly was easy. Once the dough was stretched, I mixed the taco sauce, pizza sauce, and refried beans and spread it on the blank. Next, a layer of mozzarella was laid with the taco meat sprinkled on top. Another layer of mozzarella was placed over the meat. The pizza baked for 11 minutes at 480 degrees.

Once out of the oven, the pizza was cut then topped with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes and sliced black olives.

The flavor of the taco pizza was great! The base sauce had a great taste and had texture to it. The refried beans offset the tangy tomato and cheddar. This is a hearty pizza - an 11 inch pie fed 3 adults and two young children. I will definitely be making this one again soon!