Tonight’s Dinner: Taco Meatball Ring

Everyone loves a good taco. But what if instead of using fragile taco shells you used crescent rolls and instead of cheese on top of ground beef you put the cheese inside the ground beef? You get a taco treat no one will recognize, but everyone will love.

I love Mexican food, especially tacos. But those taco shells are so darn fragile. Half the time I take one bite and the ground beef, cheese and tomatoes end up spilling all over the plate because the shell shatters. That is unless I use flour tortillas. But I’m not a big fan of flour tortillas. I much prefer the corn. And that is the battle I face every time I want to make tacos. That is until I found a unique take in Taste of Home.

They suggested making meatballs out of the ground beef and cheese and stuffing them inside refrigerated crescent rolls. The result, amazing. Not only were they easy to make, the taco filling stayed right where I put it — inside the crescent roll. So, the next time you’re in the mood for Mexican, grab some crescent rolls from your grocer’s freezer and instead of plain old tacos, make your family a taco ring.

Taco Meatball Ring

Ingredients

• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
• 2 tablespoons water
• 4 tablespoons taco seasoning
• 1 pound of ground beef
• 2 tubes refrigerated crescent rolls
• 1 (8 ounce) bag shredded iceberg lettuce
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1/2 cup sliced black olives
• Sour cream and/or salsa (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, combine 1 cup of cheese, water and taco seasoning. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into 16 meatballs.
3. Place meatballs on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 12 minutes or until meat is no longer pink inside. Remove meatballs from oven and reduce heat to 375 degrees F.
4. Arrange crescent rolls on a greased 15-inch pizza pan, forming a ring with pointed ends facing the outer edge of the pan and the wide ends overlapping. Place one meatball on each roll. Fold the point over the meatball and tuck under the wide end of the roll. (The meatball will be visible.) Repeat with the rest of the meatballs. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown.
5. Transfer meatball ring to a serving platter. Fill the center of the ring with lettuce, tomato, olives, remaining cheese, and sour cream or salsa. Serve immediately.

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