Meatball Pizza

We make a lot of pizza in our house. Everything from the homemade dough, left to rise in the afternoon, and to be rolled out, thrown onto a baking sheet, or better yet, molded into a large cast iron skillet. The great thing about pizza, and I’m sure we can all admit to, is that your possibilites are endless when it comes to the toppings. Now when it comes to my family, not everyone agrees on a particular style of pizza. Some love pepperoni, while others like cheese, while others like sausage. Sure, don’t get me wrong, I will knock out a pizza that is half pepperoni, quarter sausage, and quarter cheese if I have to, but I’m getting tired of picky eaters. Pizza is great, and that should be the end of it. Eat it. I’m a softy at times however, and as I know the kids will eat and not complain too much about. One of those things is spaghetti and meatballs. They all eat the meatballs (my daughter has some slight resistance), and so I decided to see if they would all agree on the meatball pizza.

Let’s get started.

Ingredients for the pizza dough:

• 1 package active yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/2 tbsp Sugar
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil, plus more to drizzle over the dough before rising
• 3 cups all purpose flour, plus more for rolling out the dough

Ingredients for the Meatballs:

• 5 Italian sausages, casing removed
• 1 lb ground chuck
• 2 tbsp Italian seasoning
• 2 slices of white bread, crusts removed, chopped
• 1/4 milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cracked black pepper
• 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, grated
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups of marinara sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese

Start by adding water, yeast, sugar, and honey to a mixing bowl. Let this become frothy for about 10 minutes. Take in the smell. It’s wonderful. Once your yeast has activated, add in the salt, olive oil, and flour. Mix this until it forms into a dough ball. You don’t want it sticky, and you don’t want it dry. Take the dough out, and knead the dough for a couple of minutes, before shaping it into a ball and transferring to another large bowl. Drizzle olive oil over the dough to lightly coat. Cover with a large enough towel, and set in a warm place to let it rise. The rising process will take a couple of hours, but I like to let mine rise throughout the day as we most often make the pizzas for dinner.

About 3 hours into the rising process, take the towel off and make a fist, and punch it right in the center. This is called punching down the dough. Cover and let this rise another hour or so. Punch it down again before forming the dough.

Add the cut up bread to a small bowl and add in the milk. Let it set there and get nice and moist.

To another mixing bowl, add the ground chuck and the Italian sausage. Toss in the Italians seasoning, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, and strain the bread from the milk, and toss in the bread. Give that a good mix with your hands, making sure you incorporate everything into the mixture.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Get out a large skillet and get that on medium to medium high heat. Add in the olive oil and bring that up to heat.

Start forming your meatballs into golf ball size shapes. My batch made about 15 meatballs, which is nice because you can freeze the leftovers for later in the week. Add them to the preheated skillet, and cook until they are nice and crusty on the exterior. Once partially cooked, remove them with a slotted spoon, and then add them to a baking dish. Cover and place in the oven for 25 minutes.

Now it is time to make the pizza.

Mix the marinara sauce with the chopped garlic and give that a good stir.

Drizzle a bit of olive oil onto your baking dish that you will be cooking the pizza dough on. Form the dough onto a baking sheet or large cast iron skillet. I went with more of a pan style pizza here as I was in the mood for that, however you can make this and form it anyway you desire.

Spread the sauce all over the dough.

Top with the mozzarella cheese.

Slice each meatball in half, and then press each of the sliced meatballs gently into the dough. Let this rest while you preheat the oven.

Warm the oven back up to 425 degrees. Once heated, place the pizza in the oven, and cook for about 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the cheese is completely melted and bubbly.

Slice into squares, and you have yourself a meatball pizza.

The taste is out of this world. It’s cheesy with a nice garlic, marinara sauce. And those meatballs! Look out sausage, and pepperoni pizza, this one is sure to stay! Hope you enjoy.

Meatball Pizza

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Ingredients

  

• 1 package active yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/2 tbsp Sugar
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil plus more to drizzle over the dough before rising
• 3 cups all purpose flour plus more for rolling out the dough
• Ingredients for the Meatballs:
• 5 Italian sausages casing removed
• 1 lb ground chuck
• 2 tbsp Italian seasoning
• 2 slices of white bread crusts removed, chopped
• 1/4 milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cracked black pepper
• 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese grated
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups of marinara sauce
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 4 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

 

• Start by adding water, yeast, sugar, and honey to a mixing bowl. Let this become frothy for about 10 minutes. Take in the smell. It's wonderful. Once your yeast has activated, add in the salt, olive oil, and flour. Mix this until it forms into a dough ball. You don't want it sticky, and you don't want it dry. Take the dough out, and knead the dough for a couple of minutes, before shaping it into a ball and transferring to another large bowl. Drizzle olive oil over the dough to lightly coat. Cover with a large enough towel, and set in a warm place to let it rise. The rising process will take a couple of hours, but I like to let mine rise throughout the day as we most often make the pizzas for dinner.
• About 3 hours into the rising process, take the towel off and make a fist, and punch it right in the center. This is called punching down the dough. Cover and let this rise another hour or so. Punch it down again before forming the dough.
• Add the cut up bread to a small bowl and add in the milk. Let it set there and get nice and moist.
• To another mixing bowl, add the ground chuck and the Italian sausage. Toss in the Italians seasoning, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, and strain the bread from the milk, and toss in the bread. Give that a good mix with your hands, making sure you incorporate everything into the mixture.
• Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
• Get out a large skillet and get that on medium to medium high heat. Add in the olive oil and bring that up to heat.
• Start forming your meatballs into golf ball size shapes. My batch made about 15 meatballs, which is nice because you can freeze the leftovers for later in the week. Add them to the preheated skillet, and cook until they are nice and crusty on the exterior. Once partially cooked, remove them with a slotted spoon, and then add them to a baking dish. Cover and place in the oven for 25 minutes.
• Now it is time to make the pizza.
• Mix the marinara sauce with the chopped garlic and give that a good stir.
• Drizzle a bit of olive oil onto your baking dish that you will be cooking the pizza dough on. Form the dough onto a baking sheet or large cast iron skillet. I went with more of a pan style pizza here as I was in the mood for that, however you can make this and form it anyway you desire.
• Spread the sauce all over the dough.
• Top with the mozzarella cheese.
• Slice each meatball in half, and then press each of the sliced meatballs gently into the dough. Let this rest while you preheat the oven.
• Warm the oven back up to 425 degrees. Once heated, place the pizza in the oven, and cook for about 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the cheese is completely melted and bubbly.
• Slice into squares, and you have yourself a meatball pizza.
• The taste is out of this world. It's cheesy with a nice garlic, marinara sauce. And those meatballs! Look out sausage, and pepperoni pizza, this one is sure to stay! Hope you enjoy.