Pioneer Woman: Mexican Flatbread Pizzas

Okay, folks, I am happy to report that this is one of those times where I am thankful for the Pioneer Woman and her fabulous little shortcut tidbits.  Not only did the entire family love this recipe, but the whole "flatbread" thing is something we can adapt in countless ways.

Pioneer Woman Mexican Flatbread Pizza

Verdict: Simple, quick, very yummy.  And the kids loved making their own pizzas, which was a nice bonus.
Cook it again: Absolutely. And in other variations, too.
Cost Factor: Taco stuff plus a roll of Pillsbury biscuits, so whatever that costs.  $15-ish?

This recipe is on The Pioneer Woman blog and Ree even describes it as a "throw-together" quickie meal.  The whole idea is that you can take leftover taco ingredients and serve them up a different way.

We don't usually have leftover taco ingredients (we love us some Mexican food in these parts), but we did have the salsa on hand, so we went ahead and fried up some taco meat.  (Side note:  that salsa gets better every day.  Mmmm!)

Look at that handsome chef.  He's a keeper!

My "chef's beverage."  Have you ever had Apothic White?  I just discovered it this weekend.  It's a blend and it's amazing.  Quote me on that.  Anyway, don't judge me ...

... because this was Mick's chef's beverage!   

 While Mick was doing that, I rolled out the Pillsbury Grands biscuits.  The key is to buy the originals (not the "flaky" ones).

To quote WHM, "That's a great idee-ah!"  I had never thought of this, but it's nothing short of brilliant.  We can adapt these for mini regular pizzas, or fruit pizzas, or any of a gazillion incarnations I'm sure we'll think of.  I love stuff like this.  Yes, it's semi-homemade, but it's still awesome.  And simple.  And quick.  And delicious.  C'mon, what's not to love?!

mid-rolling ...

The thinner you roll them the crispier they'll bake up ... I got them pretty thin but not paper thin, so they got crispier than a pita but not quite crunchy.  I'd still say they were thin crusts, just not cracker-thin.  (If you, like me, are a Taco Bell connoisseur, these are thinner than gorditas and chalupas, but not at thin as a soft taco's tortilla.)  I don't like doughy pizza, so my goal was to get these thin enough, and we managed.  (If you're playing along, I got to about 8-10 inch diameters, and didn't worry when they weren't perfectly circular.)

You don't even need to spray your baking sheet because the flour works to keep the bread from sticking. 

We found that the flatbreads took (surprise, surprise) longer than Ree said they would.  All told, we kept them in the oven for about ten minutes per tray.

While we were rotating those through, Mick mixed three tablespoons of salsa in with a can of refried beans.  At first it was still pretty thick, but as it heated up it got more and more liquidy.  I'd say be careful not to go more than four tablespoons or you may end up with bean-and-salsa soup!

I know.  The lighting is all amuck.  Sorry.  (again.)

I chopped up some lettuce, and (darn it, I knew I forgot something -- no tomatoes!) we were ready!  The recipe calls for whipping up a quick pico de gallo, and I foolishly forgot to buy tomatoes, but with the salsa on hand we didn't really need it.

We served these with beans on bottom, then meat, then cheese and lettuce and salsa.

DEEE - licious!

So much so, in fact, that we're probably going to repeat these this weekend, especially if we end up down at my sister's pool.  All of these ingredients travel well and you can eat these just as well cold as hot.  Yum!

Don't be fooled by the sad face.  She loved these.  She's just exhausted -- as you can probably tell.

--Jen

Pin It