Sunday, January 31, 2010

mexican + italian = taco pizza!!

after i finished knitting my fingerless gloves, sunday i stuck in the house with nothing to do.  i wasnt about to go out in the snow and didnt really feel like getting dressed to do so anyway.  i was hungry and pizza always sounds good.  after amanda and i's thursday night mexican adventure didnt live up to its expectations, i was still craving mexican food.  i remember having taco pizza from pizza hut when i was a kid and though... what the hell?  why not give it a shot!


before i get started... have i mentioned the newest addition to the family?  this is eleanor rigby!!  she is a maltese and the cutest damn thing i have seen in awhile.  sometimes i think she might be retarded since she runs into stuff a lot and the house training thing isnt all that great but she is lovable and cuddly... even her puppy breath kisses make me all warm and fuzzy inside.  hahah.  :)



ok, so pizza.  i made the crust from the cookbook that came with my kitchen aid mixer.  what?  i didnt mention her either?!  geez... im really slacking on this blog thing huh?





here she is... mean, green and an absolute beauty!  she fits in quite nicely in my andy warhol kitchen :)







crust

1 package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons olive oil
3 cups flour

1.  dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixing bowl.  add salt, olive oil and 2 cups flour.  attach bowl and dough hook to mixer and mix at speed 2 for about a minute.
2.  continue on speed 2.  add the rest of the flour, 1/2 cup at a time.  mix until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of the bowl.  kneed about 2 minutes longer.
3.  place dough in oiled bowl, turning to grease top.  cover and let rise in a warm place free from draft for an hour or until doubled in bulk.  punch dough down.

while the dough was rising, i prepared everything else for the pizza.  there are 3 different recipes i used in making this.  the first one is for the actual taco pizza itself.  the second one is for the taco sauce and the third is for the pizza sauce.  i sure am glad i had everything needed in making my own sauces from scratch.  its so much better that way :)

im not going to walk you through every single step but ill walk you through how i put the pizza together.

after punching the dough down, i spread it out on a greased cookie sheet.  i like square pizza and i didnt have a round pizza pan.  i followed the directions from the recipe above pretty much exactly.  i combined the pizza sauce, the taco sauce and the refried beans.  i added more than 1/4 cup because 1/4 cup didnt seem like enough.  (it wasnt and im glad i added almost a cup instead of 1/4)  after mixing all of that together, i spread it on the dough.  i of course didnt use real meat, i used the morningstar ground beef crumbles instead.  i didnt even have to cook them, i just added the taco seasoning and water in a bowl and mixed it all together.  i spread that on top of the sauce mixture and then added a generous amount of pizza cheese and chopped onion.  i put it in the oven at 475 for about 20 minutes.  once i let it cool a little and cut it into squares, i topped it with a little lettuce and tomato.
not the greatest picture in the world since i took it with my camera phone but it will have to do.

the pizza turned out excellent and i will be making it again at some point.  :)

3 comments:

  1. Ohh I love experimenting with different pizza recipes and I may have to try this soon!!

    (By the way, my roommate and I have been crafting with cocktails lately- it's just as good!)

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  2. me too!! i am working on thigh high leg warmers now! :)

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  3. Looks so glorious! Thanks for such delicious recipe. I will keep visiting this site very often to learn more recipes. Keep posting!

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