No doubt, over the last 2 years, we’ve all experienced some form of loss. Whether it was losing touch with a friend/co-worker in not having that daily interaction, the loss of a loved one, and yes, also the loss of your favorite bar or restaurant. One of my go-to spots for lunch, when working in-person was still a thing, was Washington Deli & Pizza. I’d always grab a slice or two of their NY-style pizzas. Frequently, it was the same order: "slice of meatball, slice of cheese"…adding a cookie or a brownie if I was having a crappy day at the office. To be honest, I never went up the few stairs to the deli counter in the back. It was always their meatball pizza for me. I never saw one before and I was infatuated after my first bite.
The friendly staff was always the same. It was reliable, affordable, and the only good thing about K Street. When I had to go back to the office, on occasion over the past 2 years, I would always go there. The selection was limited, of course. I couldn’t get my meatball pizza. But, I could still get a slice or two and support the skeleton crew running the shop - I’d add the cookie, even a drink, just to try and help keep the lights on. The last couple of times I went back, it was the owner manning the pizza oven. I’d never run into him before, but he had that steadfast, wry humor of someone going through it. “What can I get for you today? A slice, a whole pie…my lease?” Ouch. A couple months ago, I got a text from one co-worker, and an e-mail from another, letting me know the sad fate of my trusty pizza lunch spot. There wasn’t even enough time for me to make a special trip up to the city to go in there and say goodbye and get one last NY slice.
I lived for that meatball pizza; it was the only reason worth going to the office. So, today being pizza day, I decided to make my own meatball pizza…and I gotta say, it’s really damn good. This recipe takes time, but it’s not difficult - and you break it up over 2 days. You’ve all made meatballs, you’ve probably even made a pizza. Now it is time to do both! You won’t regret it, in fact, you may end up making your own meatball pies from now on.
If you want Neapolitan-style pizza, instead, try this one I made last year on this glorious day.
NY-style Meatball Pizza
3 things - dough, meatballs, sauce. All important, but you have to pay attention to each. Let’s start with the dough. If you’re cooking this at 500 degrees in your home oven, you want a dough-hydration level of 65-68%. I went with 65%, and I kept the scale on milliliters, because math is hard. Meatballs: we’re not gonna fry these up like normal and it’s ok, actually preferable, if you over-handle the meat when making the meatballs because you’ll want a denser ball for easier slicing at the end. I also went all-beef here to really drive home the meatiness since you’re only getting slices of the meatball in a bite. Sauce: this is fairly simple, but DON’T season until the very end. This ensures your sauce doesn’t radically change overnight and you know that what you taste right before swirling it on the pizza, is what you’re gonna get when you bite into that delicious pizza.
Dough
Digital scale
Calculator
3 cups AP or bread flour
~1 ⅓ cups warm water
2 tsp instant yeast
2 tsp salt
1 tsp olive oil
2 bowls and cling wrap
Meatballs
1 lb. 85-90% lean ground beef
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Parsley
1/2 cup grated Pecorino cheese
Seasoned, finely ground bread crumbs
Sauce
¼ cup olive oil
Small onion or couple of shallots
1.5 tsp tomato paste
2 garlic cloves, minced
Red pepper flakes
28 oz can of imported whole peeled tomatoes
Fresh basil and oregano
Balsamic vinegar
Sugar (if necessary, but wait on this till the last minute)
Pizza
Pizza stone
Bowl, filled with about 2 cups of flour
Pizza peel
Semolina flour (or regular flour)
Box grater
Prepared dough, sauce, and meatballs
½ cup grated Pecorino Romano Cheese
12-16 oz. whole milk, low moisture mozzarella cheese
Prepare the dough. A full day before you want to eat your pizza, place a bowl on your digital scale, zero-it out, and set to ml (if you don’t have that option, use grams). Scoop in 3 cups of flour into the bowl and note the weight for your calculation. [For me it was 450 ml. To get 65% hydration rate, bust out the calculator and take your flour’s weight and multiply it by 0.65. Whatever that resulting number is will be the proper weight of water you need. For me, it was 292.5 ml.] Remove the bowl of flour from the scale and place an empty measuring cup on the scale, zero it out, then add warm water to your measuring cup until it hits your calculated weight. Add the yeast to the water and allow it to bloom and get bubbly for about 5-10 mins.
Meanwhile, lightly grease two empty bowls and add the measured flour into the bowl of your food processor, along with the salt. Add in the bloomed yeasty water and the olive oil. Mix until the dough forms into a ball on the blade, about 30 seconds. Remove the dough and split it in half, forming each half into a ball and placing each in its own bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to rise for 24 hours.
Prepare the meatballs. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the raw meat in a large bowl, add in the eggs, a handful of fresh parsley leaves (minced), the cheese and heavy sprinkle of some breadcrumbs. Season with salt and black pepper. Mix thoroughly, with your hands, to combine and form into ~1.5” round meatballs. Place them on a foil or parchment-lined baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Add the onion along with a pinch of salt. Sauté until the onion has softened, then stir in the tomato paste until fully incorporated. Stir in the minced garlic and a pinch of red pepper flakes until fragrant. Then add in the tomatoes, breaking them up with your hands as you add them to the pot. Put a little water in the empty can, swirl it around and pour the water into the sauce. Add a pinch of salt and black pepper. Then toss in a couple sprigs of basil and the leaves from 2 sprigs of oregano. Once the sauce comes to a boil, reduce the heat so it gently simmers.
Once the meatballs are cooked, add them into the sauce, with about a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, and simmer for another 20-30 minutes. Once the sauce is thickened, remove it from the heat and let it cool. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the meatballs to a container and then pour the sauce into a separate container and refrigerate both overnight.
Prepare the pizza. The next day, about 2 hours before you want to start cooking the pizza, remove the dough from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature, keeping the bowls covered.
One hour before you cook the pizza, place a pizza stone on the middle rack of your oven and preheat to 500 degrees.
Thirty minutes before you cook the pizza, gently reheat the sauce, slice your meatballs, grate your mozzarella, place the flour in a medium-sized bowl, dusting a works surface with some, and dust a pizza peel with semolina flour. Right before topping time, check the flavor of your sauce. If it's a little bitter, add a small pinch of sugar. You may need a little salt too, just to brighten it up slightly.
When ready to make the pizza, scoop up one ball of dough and place it into the bowl of flour (smooth side-up). Flip the dough and place down into the flour again, giving a light press. Move the floured dough (smooth side-down) to your work surface. Using your fingertips, about an inch from the edge, create the crust by pressing your fingers down, turning the dough a quarter turn and repeating this process all around the dough. Then, hold down the dough with one hand and start stretching it out with the other, moving the dough in a circular fashion, until its about 12-13 inches wide, making any final adjustments.
When you have the dough in the final shape, move it to your prepared pizza peel. At this point you need to move quickly to ensure the dough doesn’t stick to the peel. Place about 3 ladlefuls of sauce on the prepared pizza dough, one ladleful at a time, and using the back of the ladle to swirl the sauce on the dough. Then sprinkle on about 3 handfuls of Pecorino, followed by 3 handfuls of grated mozzarella. Lastly, place the sliced meatballs around the pizza.
Lift your peel and give a light shake to ensure the dough is not stuck. It should shuffle back and forth. If it doesn’t shuffle, place some more flour underneath the sticky spot(s). Transfer the pizza to the preheated oven, angling your peel and letting the edge of the dough slide onto the far edge of the pizza stone. Then, moving your peel angle downward toward the stone, smoothly pull the peel back towards you allowing the pizza to gently fall onto the stone.
Bake the pizza for at least 12 minutes, rotating the dough a half turn (using the peel) if the pizza is cooking faster on one side (look at the pic above, you'll see the right side is bubbling up more than the left - I rotated my pizza after this to ensure even melting/browning). The pizza should be ready after 12-16 minutes of cooking. Use the oven light to monitor the cooking. The more you open the oven the more residual heat you lose.
When the pizza is fully cooked, remove it (using the peel), and transfer to a cooling rack for about 5 minutes. Then, transfer to a large cutting board, slice, and serve.
______________________________ Copyright 2022, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
コメント