When it came to picking a dish for Cook’s Corner, Barbara Belleville went with simple and quick.
Her Taco Pie is for people who work and hurry home and want to throw something in the oven.
She got the recipe from her daughter Audrey, who had the dish made for her by her now-husband Rocky
Donald.
It is what’s needed for young singles or parents that are too busy for elaborate meals.
“This is a dish that can be made quicker,” said Belleville. And it reheats well.
The dish starts with crescent rolls as a base, then has layered ground beef, lettuce, sour cream and
cheese, with Doritos adding a crunch.
Rather than the seasoning packet, Belleville reaches into her pantry for a jar of homemade salsa to add
to the dish.
She says she “generally” sticks with the recipe while cooking, but does her own pie crust and homemade
frosting.
“It’s all about the butter,” she shared about her frosting success.
Still, she makes everything from scratch, except the occasional “never fail” box cake mix. But she still
adds her own frosting.
For her family, she sticks mostly to beef.
“Everything that’s beef, they love beef,” she laughed, adding that homemade beef and noodles, vegetable
beef soup and pot roast are favorites. “They especially like beef recipes.”
Her husband is Jamie Belleville, who owns, along with brother Mike, Belleville Market in Bowling Green.
Consequently, cooking with fresh, not frozen, meat is never an issue.
Belleville started in the kitchen with her mother, making gravy for the barn cats, then collecting
recipes in high school.
She was married in 1974 at age 21 and used “a lot of recipes I’d collected.”
She hasn’t found a recipe yet she hasn’t mastered.
“I’m gonna beat it. I do not like mistakes.”
She referenced a recent attempt at chocolate covered nut she and her daughter tried. The mix came out as
one solid piece.
While Lauralee was ready to give up, mom was not.
“It’s not going to win. We’re going to do it right.”
The second batch came out perfect.
Belleville is the cook in the family.
“(Jamie) is capable, but he’s not really into cooking.”
Many of her recipes came from her mother-in-law Marguerite.
“He’s a smart man,” she said about her husband. “He never said my mother’s is better than yours.”
At Christmas, she said she tries to make all the things Grandma Belleville made, including homemade
cinnamon rolls.
“It’s important to carry on Grandma Belleville’s tradition,” she stated.
After 35 years teaching at Conneaut Elementary in Bowling Green, Belleville is finding more time in
retirement to try the many recipes she’s collected over the years.
But, she advised, “You have to like to cook.”
Taco Pie
2 pkgs. crescent dinner rolls
1⁄2 to 3⁄4 bag Doritos (11 oz. bag)
11⁄4 lb. ground beef or ground round
11⁄2 cups salsa or taco seasoning packet
2 cups or more sharp cheddar cheese
1 pkg. shredded iceberg lettuce (or half of 16 oz. bag)
12 oz. sour cream
Salsa
Brown ground beef and drain. Add 11⁄2 cups salsa or taco seasoning packet (according to package
directions).
Grease a 9×13 pan and spread crescent rolls in pan as a lining. Pinch together, prick sides and bottom
with fork before baking at 375 degrees for 11 to 13 minutes. It should be slightly brown.
Remove from oven and layer ingredients in order:
Crushed Doritos (use half)
Meat mixture
Lettuce
Sour cream (use the back of a spoon to spread on lettuce)
Cheese
Remaining crushed Doritos
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes
Top with additional lettuce, salsa and sour cream.
