#mini meatballs

An Italian-style pizza with homemade mini meatballs.

Readers, meet our newest tool: That is an aluminum pizza peel, which we decided we were ready to handle, being pizza bloggers, and apparently overly confident.    We really screwed up this week. We took care to flour up the peel, flour our crust, and place it carefully onto the peel for a few cursory shakes.  It was sliding all over the place, like it should, so we ran with it.  We threw on our toppings, and that’s when it happened: nothing.  No sliding motion.  It was stuck.  Sonofa… So we stuck the whole shebang, 2-foot handle and all, into the fridge for a few minutes.  Still, nada.  So then we decided to turn on the broiler, prop open the oven, and broil the pizza directly on the peel.  After a few minutes of this, it firmed up and started sliding again, so we slipped it onto the pizza stone.  Sadly, it was too late. We took the pizza out of the oven (I should mention that the peel was working perfectly at this point) and slipped it onto a cutting board.  The underside of the crust was covered—like, completely covered—in flour from flouring and then reflouring the peel.  The top looked good… really good, actually, and it tasted pretty good, too… so.  Not a total loss, not a total fail, just a hugely stressful situation yielding a mediocre pizza. Don’t do what we did.  Do this, instead: Toppings: Mini meatballs, mozzarella and parmesan Sauce: Mid’s Pizza Sauce Dough:  Bon Appétit/Jim Lahey’s No-Knead Dough Technique:

Remove the dough from the fridge 3 hours before you want to bake.  This seems to be crucial to getting great results.

Preheat your oven and pizza stone at 550˚ for an hour, making sure the grate/stone are in the upper third of the oven.

For the meatballs: combine 1 lb. of ground beef, 1 egg, 3 TB parmesan (we used the fakey stuff from the can), 1 TB of plain breadcrumbs, salt and pepper, a sprinkle of nutmeg, and a few shakes of Italian seasoning.  Mix it up well, then hand roll into nickel-sized balls.  In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add a few TB of olive oil.  When hot, add your meatballs and brown them completely, working in batches to make your life easier.  Place browned meatballs on a paper towel-lined plate to drain.  Note: you will likely use less than half of these on your pizza.  The rest you can freeze, or pop in your mouth while you’re waiting, because heeeey appetizer meatballs!

Heat your sauce in a small sauce pan.  Toss in the meatballs and let them simmer for a few minutes until they’re cooked through.

Stretch or roll out your dough to size, preferably on parchment.  Top with the sauce/meatball mixture and grated cheeses.  Place it on your stone and let it cook until the cheeses are browning.

Pasta e Fagioli with Mini Meatballs Recipe

Pasta e Fagioli with Mini Meatballs Recipe

Pasta e Fagioli with Mini Meatballs Recipe. and polenta, the dish started as a peasant dish. being composed of inexpensive ingredients. Today it can be widely found. even in restaurants that do not. specialize in Italian cuisine citation needed. It is often pronounced pasta fazool in the. United Statester the pronunciation of beans. in the Neapolitan language sta e fasule. Pasta e Fagioli with Mini Meatballs Recipe. Meatball pizza is pizza prepared with meatballs. eatball pizza has become increasingly popular. in the United States in contemporary times. and some pizzerias offer them on their menus. Some restaurants offer them as a specialty pizza. Several varieties exist, such as Tex Mex and Greek style lamb sweet and sour. The meatballs on meatball pizzas may be sliced to reduce their size.sliced in half, or broken up and spread on them. Meatball pizzas may be prepared in Neapolitan or deep-dish style. Some meatball pizzas incorporate meatballs into the crust of the pizza. Pasta e Fagioli with Mini Meatballs Recipe.

See More: Chicken Pot Pie Recipe

Ingredients

For the Meatballs:

1/2 cup homemade coarse breadcrumbs or panko

1/4 cup whole milk, to moisten the bread

1 pound ground veal or beef, pork and veal mix

Salt and pepper

1 egg

1/2 cup grated

Parmigiano Reggiano, a couple of handfuls

A few leaves sage, very thinly sliced or chopped or 1 teaspoon ground sage

A little freshly grated nutmeg, about

1/8 teaspoon

A small handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

1 large clove garlic, grated

For the Soup:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 to 3 ribs celery, finely chopped

1 white onion, finely chopped

2 to 3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 large fresh bay leaf

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 quart beef or veal stock

1 piece Parmigiano Reggiano rind

1 14-ounce can small white or cannellini beans

1 1/2 cups ditalini pasta

4 cups baby kale Grated Parmigiano Reggiano, for serving

EVOO Extra Virgin Olive Oil, for drizzling

Preparation

Pasta e Fagioli with Mini Meatballs Recipe. In a large bowl. combine all ingredients for the meatballs with your hands. and roll bite sized meatballs set aside. Heat a soup pot over medium heat with olive oil, 2 turns of the pan. Add chopped celery, onions, garlic. and bay, and partially cover to soften. 5 minutes. Add tomato paste. and stir a minute. then add stock. and 2 cups water. Drop in Parm rind, bring soup to a gentle boil. and add meatballs. Simmer a minute then add beans and pasta. and cook to al dente. Soup should be thick rather. than brothy. Wilt in the kale then season with salt and pepper. Serve in shallow bowls topped. with cheese and a drizzle of EVOO.

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