Secret Recipe Club: Taco Roll

It's been a while since I've been with The Secret Recipe Club and it's nice to be back. This month I had 2 Cookin' Mamas--a mother/daughter team who cooks. Sweet and awesome. Once on their site, it took me, like, 12 seconds to find the recipe I wanted to make (which isn't to say that I didn't have plenty of fun wandering around their blog). I'd been wanting to to make something along this line for a while and there it was just staring at me, looking delicious. 2 Cookin' Mamas put guacamole in the center of theirs and I just loved that you could put that or salsa or cream cheese or whatever right in the middle of this. It looks beautiful and is functional too. I'd fully intended to do this, but when the time came, I was racing dinner onto the table and just happy to get a few pictures.

I called it a Taco Roll like they did, but I'd almost say it was a Taco Flower, wouldn't you?

This has a fairly simple ingredient list, but you'll need to plan time for a bit of assembly--not a ton, mind you, but know that you'll be rolling little taco balls and then stacking them up like monkey bread--taco-y monkey bread. It was seriously so so good.

Taco Roll
from 2 Cookin Mamas
serves 6
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes, plus 10 for the beef plus another 5 or so to cool--plan for an hour of cooking time, though only a portion of that will be hands-on
Cost: $8.00 or $1.30/serving
crescent dough: 2.00, beef: 3.00, beans: .50, cheese: 2.00, salsa: .50

2 packages of refrigerated crescent dough
1 lb ground beef, browned and drained
2/3 can refried beans
12 oz Mexican blend cheese, grated (or a nice, sharp cheddar, which is what I used)
8 oz salsa

Preheat oven at 375. Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray.

First off, cook your hamburger with some salt and pepper. Or maybe some taco seasoning if that's your thing. (I just went with S and P)

As it's cooking, roll out your crescent triangles and get your other ingredients ready. Pour your salsa into a wide-mouthed bowl. Put your grated cheese on a plate.

When the beef is cooked and cooled somewhat (you don't want it smoking hot, but it doesn't have to be completely cool either), put a small amount of refried beans on your crescent triangle, then add 1-2 tablespoons of beef on top of that. Fold/roll it up so that the filling is all neatly tucked into your ball. Perfection is not necessary--you don't have to get everything perfectly sealed, but you don't want a crazy mess either.

Now drop this little folded ball into your salsa to coat and then roll it in the cheese. It's messy, but fun. Continue until all your balls are rolled and layered. I ended up with two layers. They didn't look big enough for my bundt pan, but after cooked, it was perfect. Sprinkle your leftover cheese and salsa on top.

Bake for 45 minutes, checking partway through to be sure it's not getting too brown (mine was fine). Remove and let it sit for several minutes. Then loosen up those edges and turn it out. It will be a pretty little flower of amazingness. If you wish, put something delicious in the center and serve.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

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