I'm Stuffed, and so is the Bread

Tonight is the last night for a while that I'll be making dinner for my whole family. My husband and I will be returning to Georgia; our son is staying behind in Louisiana to concentrate on finishing college. Trying to pack and get the house ready to close up left not a lot of motivation for a big meal, but I wanted one more meal of familiar "comfort food" for all of us.

What I made is a family favorite for us, Stuffed Bread.

Ingredients:

• pizza dough
• ground meat
• whole kernel corn
• taco seasoning
• sliced and grated cheese

I start with a basic pizza dough--tonight I used refrigerated pizza dough from a tube; I have made this with pizza dough from the bread machine, and you could, of course, use your favorite homemade dough. Next up is ground meat, cooked and drained. I had about two pounds, and had some leftover after making two large loaves of the bread. Once the meat is cooked and drained, add the corn ( I used a can of Green Giant Niblets) and the taco seasoning(due to the quantity, I added two envelopes) and enough water to dissolve the seasonings. Bring everything to a bubble and simmer covered for about 5 minutes; then remove the lid and allow as much of the liquid to cook away as possible.

Open the pizza dough and spread on a cookie sheet. Add ground meat mixture and cheese of your choice down the center of the dough. Tonight was a "clean out the fridge" night, so I used a mixture of Mexican and Italian blend cheeses. Bring the dough together on top of the meat mixture, pinching together to seal in the middle and on the ends. I usually add a quick spray of cooking oil on top, just to keep the crust moist and add some shine.

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 15 minutes, or until the crust is lightly browned.

Variations:

As I mentioned earlier, I've made this with fresh and refrigerated pizza dough--probably any soft yeast bread dough would work.I vary the seasoning and cheese combinations, according to what I have on hand. Instead of using taco seasoning, use an envelope of spaghetti seasoning, and use mozzarella, provolone, and parmesan cheese. I've used every kind of cheese from grated cheddar to sliced American to chunked up string cheese, it's always been good.

This is an easy dinner that seems to have a universal appeal. I made two of these for a church dinner once and found only a dry piece of crust left by the time I made it through the line.

I cut the extra load in half and packaged in foil--it reheats well in the oven.

So until next time, good cooking and good eating!