That's A Spicy Meat-a-ball!! Pizza

So took another gander at the meatball pizza last night! I must say this time around was a better success. My sister was here to help me and together we made amazing yummy things happen in my kitchen!!!! I went with a different dough recipe and while it was way better than last time, I'm just convinced dough will never be a friend of mine. I got the recipe out of an Italian cookbook, and still to no avail, it did not rise! I need a dough lesson big time. And not from a cookbook. But the rest was really simple. We used fresh veggies and fresh cheese. I made the sauce (pretty tasty!). 

I loooove pizza! You can do anything with it. This was definitely a happy dinner crowd. This pizza will appear on my table again. And it should appear on yours too! I think you would like it. Feel free to experiment with the crust or buy store bought. 

For my "not so rising" crust: 

1 1/2 all purpose flour, extra for dusting

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. active dry yeast

1 tbsp. olive oil

6 tbsp. luke-warm water (I didn't think 6 was enough and used about 10)

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. 

Sift the flour and salt into a medium size bowl. Stir in the yeast. Make a well in the middle of the bowl and add your oil and water. Gradually stir in the flour with your hand. When a soft ball of dough is formed turn it out onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes. Return to a clean bowl and cover with some lightly oiled plastic wrap. Let rise for one hour. 

When (if) it's risen, turn out on a floured surface once more and knock down. Knead briefly, cut in half, and roll out to 1/4 inch thickness. Bake on a lightly oiled baking sheet. 

This serves 2 so you might want to make 2 batches or 1 bigger batch. Just double everything up.

For my "oh-so-delish" meatballs: 

1 lb. ground beef

2 eggs, well beaten

3/4 c. Italian seasoned bread crumbs

1/4 c. Romano cheese, grated (imported preferred)

1 tsp. salt

Black pepper to taste

1 1/2 tbsp. basil

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1 shallot finely minced

Mix all ingredients well and shape into golf-ball size. Place in a non-stick baking pan or spray pan with pan coating. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. When the sauce is ready and the meatballs are done add them to the sauce to stay warm and yummy!

Let's get saucy!!:

1 shallot, minced

2 whole cloves of garlic (I push them through a garlic press but you can mince if you don't have one)

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 tbsp. italian seasoning

1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper (for a little zing!!)

salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the shallot and the garlic and cook until the onion is soft. Add the tomatoes and the seasoning. Bring to a simmer for 15 minutes. 

After all is said and cooked just assemble your pizza! You can use whatever else you like. We chose green peppers, red onion, black olives, parmesan cheese and fresh mozzarella.  And on a more fattening note, we brushed the crust (pre-saucing) with garlic infused butter! 

After baking for about 12-15 minutes it turned out to be something like this:

Meatball recipe courtesy of: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1718,156175-224206,00.html