Taco Pizza -- The Dough She Brought From Billings

Jen came back for a long weekend — Thursday through Sunday — and it was good in the way that things are good when you're trying. That's not meant to sound cynical. Trying is worth something. I've known people who stopped trying entirely and watched them disappear into themselves, and I know how that goes because I used to be one of them. So trying is real. It just doesn't always get you where you hoped it would.

We made pizza together Friday night, which was Jen's idea. She had this whole system — she'd brought dough starter from her apartment in Billings, had clearly been planning it. We stretched the dough on the counter and I remembered doing this with Mom when I was maybe nine or ten, flour everywhere, the dough never cooperating. Jen's was better. She said she'd been practicing the recipe for two years. There's something I like about a person who practices a recipe for two years.

Saturday we drove up into the Crazies — not a serious hike, just a long walk with some elevation. The kind of afternoon where you pack sandwiches and water and don't have a specific destination. She's from Wyoming originally, Laramie, so the landscape isn't foreign to her. We talked for a while on a ledge overlooking a valley and I said more than I normally say, which I noticed even as it was happening. The altitude probably helps. Or maybe the physical effort of walking somewhere clears room for words that usually don't find their way out.

I told her a little about the Derek years — not everything, not close, but enough that the context started to exist. She listened without flinching. That mattered. When I was done she didn't say anything heavy, just said she was glad I told her. We sat there for a few more minutes and then started back down. I don't know what I was expecting her to say. I think I was mostly just testing whether the weight of it would change the air between us. It didn't, quite. Not yet.

Jen’s version of that Friday pizza was hers — her starter, her two years of practice, her system. But when the weekend was over and she drove back to Billings, I wanted to make something in that same spirit: unfussy, a little unexpected, the kind of thing that fills a kitchen with something good while you’re still figuring out what you’re doing. Taco pizza is what I landed on. It’s got that same quality of being two familiar things that turn out to work together better than you expected.

Taco Pizza

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 lb prepared pizza dough, room temperature
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 packet (1 oz) taco seasoning
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/2 cup refried beans
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
• 1/2 cup diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup sliced black olives
• 1/4 cup sliced pickled jalapeños (optional)
• 1 cup shredded iceberg lettuce (for topping after baking)
• 1/4 cup sour cream, for serving
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Cornmeal, for dusting pan

Instructions

1. Preheat oven. Set oven to 425°F. Lightly dust a large baking sheet or pizza pan with cornmeal.
2. Brown the beef. In a skillet over medium-high heat, cook ground beef until no longer pink, breaking it apart as it cooks, about 6–8 minutes. Drain excess fat.
3. Season the meat. Stir taco seasoning and water into the beef. Simmer over medium heat for 3–4 minutes until the liquid is mostly absorbed. Remove from heat.
4. Stretch the dough. On a lightly floured surface, stretch or roll the pizza dough into a 12–14 inch round. Transfer to the prepared pan. Brush the edges lightly with olive oil.
5. Build the base. Spread refried beans evenly over the dough, leaving a 1-inch border. Spoon salsa over the beans and spread gently.
6. Add toppings. Scatter the seasoned beef evenly over the sauce layer. Top with shredded cheese, diced tomatoes, black olives, and jalapeños if using.
7. Bake. Transfer to the oven and bake for 16–20 minutes, until the crust is golden at the edges and the cheese is melted and bubbling.
8. Finish and serve. Remove from oven and let rest 2 minutes. Top with shredded lettuce and a drizzle of sour cream. Slice and serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 480 | Protein: 26g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 44g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 890mg