Friday, March 18, 2011

Taco Pizza is for me.

A few years ago, in an effort to appease the masses, we decided each family member would get to choose what's for dinner once a week. The other two days would be for leftovers. That means at least twice a week every family member is happy. The only rule is, it can't be something we ate the week before. Inevitably we eat pita pizzas every other week. Pita pizzas are a popular dinner choice at our house. Pitas are inexpensive and easy, especially with all the Middle Eastern markets by our house, where one can get ten freshly made pitas for about two dollars. Jon and Eli are cheese only pizza lovers, where as Nate and I enjoy the works. Audrey falls somewhere in the middle - as long as her mushrooms are arranged prettily, she's happy.

We were scheduled to have pasta salad and breadsticks tonight, but I was a little late on making the pasta. Having just returned from the market, I called our standby pita pizzas to bat. I could almost hear the shouts of joy and praise. That is until I decided to switch things up a bit with taco. pizza. You'd have thought I was sending them to bed without eating anything. What?! Something I've never tried before? How dare you!

The owner of Happy Joe's Pizza based in the Quad Cities is considered the inventor of the taco pizza. Yes. People in Iowa eat tacos, and pizza. And taco pizza. My first taste of taco pizza was when I was about 8. It was at a friend's birthday party at Happy Joe's at Northpark Mall in Davenport, IA. For a long time, Happy Joe's and Northpark Mall pretty much summed up the entertainment options for many Quad Citians, although, over the years the cities have worked hard to rectify that. I guess I just assumed taco pizza was a universal offering until I found out Jon had not heard of it. However, he's never been eager to venture a try.

So tonight instead of the usual toppings for pizzas, I put out all the fixings for tacos. And the pitas. The children were so confused. After much weeping wailing and gnashing of teeth, they reluctantly followed my lead, creating their own versions of the end goal. Eli was all about the cheese, but he did liven things up a bit with a salsa base. Audrey arranged her tomatoes just so, and I poured it all on. Jon and Nate didn't really care what they put on their pizzas; they were too interested in watching Ohio State annihilate UTSA. Go Buckeyes!

A taco pizza purist would use a pizza dough crust, but remember, I'm improvising here. Below is my pre-baked pizza. Refried beans, pre-cooked seasoned taco meat, olives, tomatoes, onions, jalapenos and cheese. Tomatoes are usually added after baking, but I like them hot.


We baked them for about 10 minutes in a 400 degree oven. The pita was nice and crispy and the cheese was melted.


After it had baked, I top it off with chopped lettuce and a handful of crushed tortilla chips. Happy Joe's uses what they call taco chips, but I think tortilla chips or corn chips work well too. Some people even use crushed nacho flavored Doritos. Remember to add a dollop of sour cream. Jon used lettuce, ranch dressing and taco sauce. I added some homegrown, homemade jalapeno salsa.


Taco pizza is for me!