Taco Pizza

How.  I.  Love.  You.  Pizza.  It's true, pizza is one of my all time favorite foods.  I have only found one pizza that was unpalatable to me, and it's one of those love it or hate it styles.  The rest of my family is crazy about it, but I'm the lonely soul forced to forgo dinner (yeah, right)  when this particular pie is ordered.  Pizza is something that everyone in my house agrees on.  I constantly tease my husband over the time I visited him and his roommate in college.  They were in grad school, and were pretty much sick of higher education at that point.  My hubby and I were getting married in six months, he was trying to finish his Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, and I was working full-time.  Not a conducive time for healthy eating.  Anyway, I made the half hour drive to visit one evening (probably to annoy the living crap out of him about guest lists or seating charts) and discovered (literally) the leaning tower of pizza boxes.  I'm not a petite woman, only being an inch or so shy of 6 foot and the stack of pizza boxes came to my neck.  At approximately 1 1/2 inch thick per box...that is...um, let me do the math...way too many pizzas.  We won't discuss why the boxes weren't taken to the trash, that's a completely different story, but needless to say, the stack of pizza boxes have become a running joke in our house.  Sadly however, if pizza was without calories (it isn't) or my physique could handle said calories (it can't) I could eat pizza for lunch and dinner every single day (as long as we switched up styles and pizza joints regularly).  I just recently discovered baking pizzas at home and I've pretty much been trying every style imaginable.  Taco pizza recently topped my list as one of my at-home favorites.  Plus, with the tomatoes and lettuce, it's practically a health food.  Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think! Oh and try not to drool on your keyboard when you see the picture of the gooey cheesiness that will ensue.  

Taco Pizza

1 Pizza crust (I used this recipe Pizza Dough II, but store bought would be good too)

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 c. water

1/3 c. taco seasoning

Brown ground meat, drain.  Add water and taco seasoning, cook while stirring over medium heat for 5 minutes.

1 lb. cream cheese, softened

2 Tb. taco seasoning

2 Tb. sour cream

Combine cream cheese, seasoning and sour cream until smooth.

1 1/2 C. salsa

1 Tb. taco sauce

2 Tb. Catalina salad dressing

Combine salsa, taco sauce and dressing in a blender or food processor until just small chunks remain.

8 oz shredded mozzarella

2 oz cheddar cheese

1 Tb taco seasoning

Toss cheeses and seasoning together.

Preheat oven to 425°.  Lightly oil a sheet tray and sprinkle with corn meal.  Spread pizza crust over pan.  Cover the crust in the cream cheese mixture and top with ground meat.  Drizzle the salsa mixture over top, and then top evenly with the cheese.  Bake 10 minutes.  Turn the oven down to 400° and bake another 15 minutes until cheese is bubbly and crust is lightly browned.  Top with shredded lettuce and sour cream.