Appetite For Instruction: Taco Pizza

Recipe Demonstrated by Yolanda Perez, Ray Hernandez and Kacey Iacomini of Picasso’s Pizza and Grill

When you move to a new neighborhood there are certain businesses you seek out immediately, such as a grocery store, cheap gas station, dry cleaners, liquor store and a restaurant that delivers.

Often our only options of food delivery are pizza or Chinese. Which sucks when you’re in the mood for a taco and not wanting to leave the couch because a Real Housewives of Atlanta marathon is on. And this is where Picasso’s Pizza and Grill steps in.

Picasso’s started twenty years ago in Lake Highlands. After just a few years in business, one of the delivery drivers, Andrew Albert, decided to buy the restaurant from the original owners. He turned it from a hole in the wall pizza joint to a budding chain with three locations spread about Dallas (who doesn’t love a good rags to riches story).

Notice that it’s Pizza and Grill. They have a wide selection of burgers, sandwiches, pasta, appetizers and much more to choose from–yet pizza and calzones still bring in 40% of their sales. The one pizza that people seem apprehensive about is the taco pizza. “They will order one among other pizzas for a party or an event to try it out,” Iacomini says. “And then the next time they end up ordering multiples of it.”

Ingredients:

I can of pizza dough
(or make from scratch)
2 oz salsa

2 oz of pizza sauce
(your own or commercial sauce)
2 cups ground beef

1 packet taco seasoning

1 ½ cup mozzarella cheese

1 ½ cup of lettuce

1 cup of sliced black olives

2 tbsp chopped green onions

1 diced tomato

½ cup of shredded cheddar cheese

1 avocado

Step one: While browning ground beef in pan with taco seasoning mix, roll out the pizza dough on a flat baking sheet. Hand-braid the edge (optional).

Step two: Mix the pizza sauce and salsa together in a bowl and then
spread on top of the pizza dough. Sprinkle on the mozzarella cheese and
taco seasoned ground beef (drain off grease).

Step three: Bake in the oven on 325 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until the cheese is a golden brown.

Step four: Once out of oven, distribute shredded lettuce, sliced black
olives, green onions, diced tomatoes and shredded cheddar cheese evenly
on the pizza.

Step five: Garnish with avocado slices and serve with sides of salsa, sour cream and guacamole.