Taco Pizza

Brian requested taco pizza for dinner.  I was all for it until I did the math for a homemade pizza dough taco pizza - 460+ calories for 2 slices?  Heck if I wanted that amount of calories used up I would have gone to Papa Gino's (my personal pizza guilty pleasure)!  That just wasn't going to work - I needed to find a way to reduce the calories.

Have I ever introduced you wonderful people to the amazing Top This! Pizza crusts?  They are wonderful!  I first found them at Dave's Marketplace, and have since discovered that our wonderful milk man will deliver them right to our door!  They are beautiful fire grilled pizza crusts that come in white and wheat.  (I have had both, yet in our house we prefer the white - plus it is less calories.)  The white pizza crust 1s 600 calories for the ENTIRE THING - compared to the 1000 calories for a homemade pizza dough I would say that is a significant reduction!  If you live in New England (or "Old New England" - read: Florida) check them out!  They are delicious and a wonderful alternative to a higher calorie pizza dough.

So I discovered a means to lower the calorie count and taco pizza was again feasible for dinner.  I would say it came out pretty good.  I only ended up having one piece, 1/8th of the pizza.  This was originally due to the fact that I wasted all my calories for the day on chocolate - it was one of those days.  After eating that once piece, and a salad, I am happy to say I was very full.  So I didn't actually miss out on anything!

Taco Pizza

• 1 Top This! Pizza Crust
• 1 c Refried Beans (I used fat free)
• 1/2 lb Ground Beef
• 2 T Taco Seasoning
• 1 c Corn (I used frozen)
• 1 Bell Pepper, diced
• 1/2 Onion, diced
• 1/4 c Black Olives, sliced
• ~10 Grape Tomatoes, chopped
• 1/3 c Mexican Cheese

Check out those layers!!  YUM

1. Brown the ground beef in a pan and season with the taco seasoning.  
2. Mix the corn into the ground beef and set aside to cool.
3. Preheat the oven to 425 F and place your pizza stone or baking sheet in the oven while preheating.
4. While the oven is preheating put the refried beans in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 1-2 minutes.  When done spread the beans out in and even layer on the pizza crust.
5. Top the refried beans with the meat/corn mixture.  
6. Top the meat/corn mixture with the peppers, onions, olives, and tomatoes.
7. Finally sprinkle the cheese on top of everything.
8. Slide the prepared pizza onto the preheated pizza stone or baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until cheese is melted and the crust has reached your personal crispiness.  
9. Remove from oven, cut into 8 slices and ENJOY!

Brian topped his pizza with salsa.  You can also add avocado slices, sour cream, or even lettuce.  The pizza is thick and messy, but let's be honest - all the best types of pizza are!

Sorry for the crappy pictures - I really need to start using an
actual camera instead of my phone for these posts!

Now for the calories:  For one slice of pizza (1/8th of the pizza) the calorie count comes to 180.  But let's be honest, who actually east ONE slice of pizza (unless you accompany it with a SUPER LARGE salad).  So for 1/4 of the pizza the calorie count is 360.  Simple math I know, but I wanted to put it out there so you could SEE that it came in a whole 100 calorie less than the homemade pizza dough.