Quick and easy homemade pizza dough, rich marinara sauce, tender, juicy meatballs and mozzarella cheese come together in a homemade meatball pizza that's better than takeout.
Homemade Pizza with Meatballs and Pepperoni
Chewy-crispy crust, spicy marinara, garlic, olive oil, meatballs, pepperoni, and plenty of melted cheese? Ummmm.... yes, please.
On many nights, pizza delivery is a godsend. But, there's really nothing like homemade pizza every now and then, especially if you happen to have some homemade meatballs and marinara sauce lurking in your refrigerator.
The pizza dough in this recipe is my favorite because it's super easy and reliably turns out a chewy, flavorful crust. The dough mixes up quickly, doesn’t need much kneading time, and only requires about 1 hour to proof before it’s ready to use. After that, it’s just a matter of assembling and baking your pizzas.
The pizza dough can also be mixed in the morning and allowed to proof all day in the refrigerator, making homemade pizza a pretty great weeknight dinner option. Mix the dough in the morning, put it in a bowl, cover tightly, and place it in the refrigerator until that evening.
About 30 minutes before you want to bake your pizzas, remove the dough from the refrigerator, allow it to come to room temperature, and you’re good to go.
Used in this recipe:
While not absolutely necessary, a baking stone and pizza peel are useful when making homemade pizza.
Homemade Pizza
Quick and easy homemade pizza dough, rich marinara sauce, tender, juicy meatballs, pepperoni, and mozzarella cheese come together in a homemade meatball pizza that's better than takeout.
Ingredients
- 1 recipe homemade pizza dough
- 5 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoon dry Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 teaspoon of salt to a small bowl
- 2 cups marinara sauce
- 4 cups grated mozzarella cheese
- Meatballs and pepperoni and/or other toppings of your choice
Instructions
- Place a pizza stone on a rack in the center of your oven. Alternatively, cover a rimless baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. If using a pizza stone, heat the stone inside the oven for 30 minutes.
- Scatter some flour over a works surface and divide the dough into 4 equal pieces, keeping the dough you're not working with covered to prevent it from drying out.
- If baking your pizza on a pizza stone, cut a 14 to 16 inch circle of parchment paper and place on a pizza peel or rimless baking sheet. This will make it easy to slide your pizza onto the hot baking stone without having to use a lot of flour. The parchment paper will not prevent the bottom of your crust from crisping up.
- Add the olive oil, garlic, Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, and salt to a bowl and stir to mix.
- Working with one piece of dough at a time, gently press and stretch it out into a 9 to 12 inch circle. (If you've never shaped pizza dough, this is a good video describing how to do it.)
- Lay the dough onto the parchment round on a pizza peel or rimless baking sheet, or onto the parchment lined baking sheet you will be baking the pizza on. Brush the crust all over with a bit of the garlic and olive oil mixture. Spread with ⅓ - ½ cup of marinara sauce, leaving about 1-inch boarder around the edge. Scatter with cheese. Cut meatballs in half and scatter a few across the surface of the pizza along with pepperoni slices, and/ or any other toppings.
- Slide the pizza, parchment and all, off the pizza peel or baking sheet onto the hot pizza stone. If baking the pizza on a parchment covered baking sheet, just place the baking sheet into the oven. Bake for 8-12 minutes or until the crust is a deep golden brown and the cheese is bubbling and just beginning to brown in places. Use the pizza peel, a baking sheet, or a large metal spatula to remove the pizza from the oven. Let the pizza cool for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.
- Repeat with remaining dough, garlic olive oil, sauce, cheese, and toppings.
Notes
Having a baking stone and pizza peel is useful when making homemade pizza, but not necessary. While the bottom of the crust won't get quite as crispy, you can bake a perfectly good pizza on a baking sheet. If using a baking stone, having a pizza peel is really useful. Pizza stones need to preheat in the oven and a pizza peel makes getting the pizza into the oven easy. But, you can also slide your pizza into the oven this with a baking sheet.
Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 0Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 0mgCarbohydrates: 0gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 0g
Leave a Reply