Meatball and Ricotta Pizza

Meatball and Ricotta Pizza

Meatballs

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 pound of ground beef

  • 1 small yellow onions, chopped

  • 1 cup of grated Romano cheese

  • 1/2 cup of flat leaf Italian parsley, chopped

  • 1/4 cup of seasoned bread crumbs

  • 1 egg

  • 1/2 tsp of salt

  • 1/2 tsp of fresh ground black pepper

  • 3 Tbs of extra virgin olive oil

Preparation:

  • In a large bowl, thoroughly combine all the ingredients above except the olive oil.

  • Using your hands, roll the meat into 3/4 inch balls.

  • Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan.

  • Fry the meatballs for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side until the meatballs are golden brown.

Makes around 12 to 16 mini-meatballs

Basic Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

    • 4 cup of all purpose flour

    • 1 1/2 cups of warm water

    • 1 package of active dry yeast

    • 1 tsp. salt

    • 2 Tbls of extra virgin olive oil

    • 1 Tbls of sugar

      PREPARATION

    • In a large bowl pour in warm water and sugar

    • Stir to dissolve sugar.

    • Add yeast and gently stir until yeast is dissolved.

    • Let mixture sit for around 15 minutes to activate yeast.

    • Add oil and salt and gently stir.

    • Add one cup of flour and mix

    • Add a second cup of flour and mix until sticky.

    • Add third cup of flour and mix until dough becomes thick.

    • Place the dough on a floured board and gradually knead in the remaining flour.

    • Dust with extra flour and continue kneading until dough becomes firm. About 10 minutes.

    • Kneading is complete when you have a smooth silky ball of dough. It’s better to over knead than to under knead.

    • Grease a large bowl with a little oil.

    • Place dough in the bowl turning once to coat the dough.

    • Cover with a dish towel an place in a warm place for about 2 hours allowing the dough to double in size.

    • Take the dough out of the bowl and cut in half and roll the into two balls.

    • With a rolling pin roll the dough and place onto a grease baking pan.

    • Cover and let it sit in a warm place for around another hour.

Pizza

Ingredients:

  • Basic Pizza Dough

  • 2 Tbs of extra virgin olive oil

  • 3 cloves of garlic,chopped

  • 1 tsp of thyme

  • 1 tsp of oregano

  • 1 tsp of basil

  • 1 28oz can of whole San Marzano, tomatoes

  • 1/2 tsp of salt

  • 1/2 tsp of fresh ground black pepper

  • 2 Tbs of extra virgin olive oil

  • 1 Tbs of butter

  • 1 medium yellow onion, sliced

  • 8 portobello mushrooms, sliced

  • 12 -16 meatballs

  • 2 cups of ricotta

  • 2 8oz balls of fresh di bufala mozzarella, drained, dried and sliced.

Preparation:

  • Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees

  • On a greased baking dish roll the dough out into a round crimping the edges to form a crust.

  • In a medium size saucepan, saute the garlic, thyme, oregano and basil in the olive oil for 2 minutes.

  • Add the tomatoes and mix together.  Heat through for 2 minutes.

  • Spread the tomato mixture over the pizza.

  • Season with salt and pepper

  • In a small frying pan, saute the onions and mushrooms in the oil and butter until the onions a translucent.

  • Top tomatoes with with onions mixture.

  • Add the meatballs all over the pizza.

  • Add dollops of ricotta all over the pizza.

  • Add the sliced mozzarella.

  • Bake for 20 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is crisp