Taco Pizza

Will you accept my apology? I've been making a lot of food, just not posting it. I have to admit, when I'm on the computer all day at school (one of the benefits of being the yearbook adviser), I just don't feel like being online at night. However, I'm going to try harder, because I want to create a recipe archive for myself! 

Sometimes I get a craving for taco pizza, and not just any taco pizza, but Casey's General Store taco pizza. Yeah, all of you Iowa kids know what I'm talking about! This is the closest I've come to replicating the recipe. However, I made this back in early January, so I hope I get it right! 

Ingredients
1 pizza crust, cooked for at least 7 minutes (lightly browned)
1/3 cup salsa (approximate--depends on the consistency you want with your sauce)
1/2 can fat free refried beans
1/2 pound cooked taco meat (lean ground beef with taco seasoning)
About 2 cups pizza/mozzarella/Colby-jack cheese, divided (I used Colby-jack)
shredded lettuce
diced Roma tomatoes
black olives
onions
1-2 cups crushed baked Doritos 
taco sauce
sour cream

Mix salsa and refried beans to desired consistency, and spread on top of half-baked pizza crust. Don't add too much, though, because the crust may become soggy (see my tip below). Then, add cooked taco meat on top of the bean mixture. You may add some black olives at this time if you wish. Otherwise, add cheese--about 1 to 1 1/2 cups, and cook until the pizza is done.

When pizza is cooked, take out of oven and let sit for about 5 minutes. Cut into 8 servings. Then, add lettuce, tomatoes, olives, onions, cheese and crushed baked Doritos (NOTE: the Doritos are not pictured above, because I didn't want them to get soggy in the fridge--we only ate 1/2 the pizza for supper, the other half the next day). Top with sour cream and taco sauce if desired.

VERDICT: Ah, I felt like I was at my aunt's house and I was 10-years-old again! This was so close to the original that I don't feel the need to tweak this anymore! TIP: I only used 1/2 a pound of ground beef, but I always freeze my ground beef in 1-pound packages, so I made the entire pound, and when I divided it, I mixed the reserved meat with the 1/2 can of refried beans. With that mixture I made a new dish, which I hope to post soon!