Introduction: The Epic Pizza Taco

Have you ever faced the dilemma of whether or not to pick up Taco Bell or Pizza Hut? Well, here we are to solve your problems! Introducing the Epic Pizza Taco! Pizza dough cut thinly to create a quesadilla base with a white cheese core topped off with a traditional ground beef taco salad makes for the best of both worlds!

Preparation time: ~3 hours

Serves: 4 people

Step 1: Preparing the Pizza Dough

Cooking Ware

  • Large bowl
  • Saran Wrap
  • Wisk
  • Oven

Quantities of Ingredients

  • 1 packet of instant dry yeast
  • 28 - 32 ounces of flour
    • Bread flour yields a crispier crust
  • 2 table spoons of olive oil
    • 2 additional for greasing the pot
  • 2 teaspoons of salt
  • 12 ounces of hot water

Preparing the Dough

  • Combine the flour, yeast, and salt
    • While combining, add the water and oil
  • Beat the dough to form a ball
    • Too sticky, add flour
    • Too dry, add water
  • Grease a large bowl with an additional 2 teaspoons of oil
  • Place the dough in the pot and wrap the opening in saran wrap

Let the dough sit for an hour so it can rise

Step 2: Shaping the Dough

Cutting and Sculpting

  • Separate the dough into eight balls
  • Roll flat and thin
  • Ensure that they are 6 inches in diameter
  • Shape into octagons (optional)

Turning crust into quesadilla

  • Acquire 1 cup of mozzarella cheese
  • Grab a raw thin pizza crust
  • Place the ¼ cup of cheese evenly on the crust
  • Place a raw thin pizza crust above the cheese
  • Seal the edges of the pizza crust by pressing the tips of fork along the perimeter

Step 3: Preparing the Pizza Sauce

Cooking Ware

  • sauce pot (4 quart size)
  • Mixing spoon
  • Chef knife
  • cutting board
  • Electric stove
  • Cooking mittens (optional)

Quantities of ingredients

  • 28 ounces of diced tomatoes
  • 2 cloves minced garlic
  • 1 tablespoon minced oregano
  • 1 tablespoon minced basil
  • ½ cup of chopped yellow onion
  • ¼ cup chopped green pepper
  • 1 teaspoons salt
  • ¼ cup Water
  • 2 tablespoons Canola oil (or equivalent cooking oil)

Caution: Always wash hands between cutting of ingredients in order to prevent contamination.

Instructions

  1. Place sauce pot on stove element (appropriate stove element depends on size of sauce pot)
  2. Set stove element temperature to high
  3. Wait for the sauce pot to heat up
  4. Note: To check temperature as the sauce pot heats up, throw in a little piece of onion on the sauce pot, and wait until you hear it begin to gently sizzle. Caution: Ensure there is no liquid water in pot before adding oil, failure to do so may cause severe burns.
  5. Add 2 tablespoons of canola oil in sauce pot
  6. Add ½ cup of chopped onion in sauce pot
  7. Lower temperature to “medium” when the onion acquires a light golden-yellow color
  8. Add ¼ cup of chopped green pepper in sauce pot
  9. Add 2 cloves of minced garlic in sauce pot
  10. Add 28 ounces of diced tomato (Stir occasionally)
  11. Seasoning Add ¼ cup of water
  12. Add 1 teaspoon of table salt
  13. Add 1 tablespoon of minced oregano and 1 tablespoon of minced basil
  14. Let sauce simmer for 30 minutes, stir every two minutes, or until sauce has reached a semi-thick consistency
  15. Turn the stove off after 20 minutes of simmering
  16. Leave sauce to finish simmering for remaining 10 minutes (leave element off)
  17. The sauce is complete. Let sauce cool at room temperature for 10 minutes before placing into refrigeration

Attachments

Step 4: Cooking the Ground Beef

Cooking Ware

  • Large frying pan
  • Large heat-resistant spoon (plastic/wood) or spatula
  • Range/stove
  • 4 bowls

Ingredients

  • Ground Beef (2 lbs, ½ lb for each personal pizza)
  • Olive Oil
  • Garlic and Onion powder

Seasoning and Cooking the Beef

  • Defrost beef
  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil to grease the pan
  • Sprinkle season the powders
  • Cook until none of the beef is pink

Separate the beef into the 4 bowls

Step 5: Preparing the Taco Salad

Cooking ware

  • Measuring cup
  • Large bowl
  • Knife & Cutting Board

Ingredients

  • ½ Head of lettuce
  • 1 cup Shredded cheese
  • ½ cup Chopped tomatoes
  • Optional
    • 1/2 Tbs Sour cream minimum each person
    • 4 ounces of dressing each person
    • 3 ounces Tortilla chips each person

Preparation

  • Chop tomatoes into small pieces and shred the lettuce
    • Crush bag of tortilla chips (optional)
  • In a bowl, add and mix:
    • Lettuce
    • Cheese
    • Tomatoes
    • Meat

Step 6: Raw Assembly

Steps to Put Everything Together:

Note: To prevent the pizza crust from sticking to the baking sheet, apply a moderate coat of cooking oil or non stick cooking spray before placing dough on baking sheet.

  1. With your dough, roll thin quesadilla slices
  2. Top it off with a layer of 1/4 cup of cheese and bake
    • Bake in intervals of 3 minutes to prevent fully cooking the crust (Do not worry. You will finish cooking it after adding the top layer)
  3. Place another layer of the quesadilla slices on top
  4. Top it off with 3/4 cup of pizza sauce & 1/4 cup of cheese, then bake
    • Bake in intervals of 5 minutes to prevent burning the cheese
    • Keep in mind the innermost layer will take longer to cook

    (repeat steps 1-4 for each serving)

Voila!