This time of year, I often start experimenting with different flavors of pizza. Sure, I love traditional pizza with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese, but once we start getting fresh ingredients from our CSA, I can’t resist using some of them on pizza.

It’s still early in the season right now, but we’ve already had a lot of beautiful baby lettuce and some greenhouse tomatoes. While my husband is content to eat salad three times a day for a week, I am not. So, I decided to use some lettuce and tomatoes on pizza. Of course, lettuce and tomatoes do not make a great pizza topping (not in my opinion, at least). But, when I think lettuce and tomatoes, I think taco toppings. And, when I think tacos, there’s nothing better than shredded beef.

One of my favorite things about my shredded beef tacos recipe is that there’s always plenty of leftovers. That’s the beauty of cooking for two. So, with leftover beef on hand, and some pizza dough from the freezer, this pizza came together in just a few minutes!

This is one of those recipes where you can really incorporate all of your favorites (or what you have on hand). I love avocado with my tacos, so I added some sliced avocado. Grilled corn, black beans, and cilantro would all be wonderful additions, too!

Shredded Beef Taco Pizza

(Makes one large pizza, Serves 4)

Pizza dough (1/2 recipe, or enough for one large pizza)

1 cup salsa

2 cups leftover shredded beef

1 avocado, sliced

4 ounces monterey jack cheese, shredded

Baby lettuce (about 1 1/2 cups)

Chopped tomatoes (about 1 1/2 cups)

Preheat the oven to 475°F.

Roll out the pizza dough on a piece of parchment paper. Top the dough with the salsa, and spread the shredded beef out evenly over the salsa and dough. Arrange the sliced avocado on top of the beef, and sprinkle with the cheese.

Bake on a pizza stone for about 12 minutes, until the pizza is golden and the cheese is bubbly.

Let the pizza rest for a few minutes before slicing. Top the pizza with the lettuce and tomatoes right before serving and slicing.