Test Kitchen #6: Mexican Pizza Pie

Good news and bad news: Good news is that last week I booked a 2 week on-site graphics assignment that will ensure the continued flow of groceries into this house as well as a much needed increase in our savings account. The bad news was that it was the first week I had to bail on Dad for our Tuesday test kitchen. Though disappointed, he pressed on without me to create AND photograph a new concoction.

After last week's vindaloo incident, we spent the remainder of the afternoon brainstorming about a new recipe. It was Dad's turn and he had this idea for a layered Mexican dish that you could make in a pie plate. You barely need a recipe for this and as with most Mexican dishes, as long as there's plenty of cheese, you can't go wrong. He served it with a side salad topped with salsa and said it must have been good because Mom asked for seconds. He saved me a piece that I picked up the next morning on my way into the office. It received many Ooos and Ahhs as I was standing in line for the microwave at lunch time.

The best part about this recipe was trying to figure out what to call it. In the office, many people asked if it was a Mexican pizza or lasagna. But the best name suggestion came from our brainstorm the previous week. At first we thought of baking the entire thing in a spring form pan, so you could make multiple layers of tortilla and ingredients, but later landed on the pie plate to keep it simple. After chatting up the concept for a while, Dad and I sat in silence contemplating the whole picture, when he asked,

"Sounds good, but what should we call it?"
I thought for a moment and blurted out, "The Mexican Beef Cake?"

We both burst out laughing to the point of tears. That didn't sound as wrong in my head as when I heard it come out of my mouth.
Enjoy!

(These steps are meant to be loose so you can make your own variations.)

A Mexican Pizza Pie

Needs:
• Ground Beef
• Taco Seasoning Packet
• Chopped green pepper
• Chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• Tomato sauce
• Two burrito size tortillas
• Shredded Mexican Cheese
• Sour Cream (garnish)
• Chopped Scallions (garnish)
• Salsa (garnish)

Steps: Preheat oven to 350º
1. Prepare taco meat per instructions on seasoning packet.
2. Add peppers and onions and cook until soft.
3. Add tomato paste and a little water and stir until saucy. Set aside.
4. Lightly grease a deep dish pie plate.
5. Place tortillas on a microwave safe dish, cover with a damp paper towel and microwave for 30 seconds.
6. Place one tortilla in the bottom of the pie dish. Press the tortilla up the sides so it meets the edge of the plate. Fill with meat mixture.
7. Cover meat with second tortilla and top with tomato sauce and shredded cheese.
8. Bake for 30 minutes or until edges of tortilla are golden and cheese is melty.
9. Slice in pie shaped sections and serve with desired garnishes.

Variations:
Get more adventurous by adding more layers. Dad suggests dividing the meat in half, so you create one layer of meat at the bottom, a layer of re-fried beans in the middle, and another layer of meat on top before you close it up with the final tortilla.

To lighten the load on the calories and fat, try with ground turkey, reduced fat cheese and fat-free sour cream.