Today’s recipe is the definition of a Sunday cook. This Mini Meatball Pizza features a homemade arrabbiata sauce, roasted red peppers, gooey mozzarella, and hand-rolled mini lamb meatballs on freshly baked homemade pizza crust. While it is true that this pizza takes far more effort than firing up a delivery app, it is well worth the patience it costs. From the aroma of a bubbling tomato sauce to the tactile experience of forming a series of petite meatballs, this ‘za is equal parts fun kitchen project and romantic date night meal. So let’s dive right in!
The first thing we have to tackle is the dough. Now, this isn’t my dough. I mean, it is homemade dough but the recipe is from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. It’s been my go-to since the summer. I highly recommend both the recipe and the book. It’s truly been a baking bible of sorts. But if you’re not keen on popping out to the bookstore, have no fear, I have a few different pizza dough recipes on the site. They range from fluffy focaccia to NY-style. So take your pick and meet me back here when you’re done.
Okay, now that the dough is off rising and doing its thing, we can focus on the sauce. This Mini Meatball Pizza features an arrabbiata sauce. This sauce is essentially a marinara amped up with Calabrian chiles and crushed red pepper flakes. As always remember to know your limit and play within it when it comes to spice. I tried to keep the recipe below rational in terms of chili volumes. But I will warn you I have a high spice tolerance and my partner’s is stratospheric. The sauce as written below has a mild burn to our palettes. But if you’re sensitive to heat, scale the chili back considerably. If you have no heat tolerance at all, skip the chili and make yourself a damn good marinara.
Start by heating a little olive oil in a large skillet. Add a whole whack of shallots and a ton of garlic. Sauté until softened. Take half of the shallot and garlic mixture out of the skillet and set it aside. We will use them in the meatballs. Stir tomato paste into the shallots and garlic in the skillet and add some crushed red pepper flakes. Sauté until the capsicum tickles your nose. Pour in a can of whole tomatoes and break them up roughly with your spoon. Add the rind (this is optional by the way) from a block of Parmigiano Reggiano and a sprig of fresh basil. Bring the sauce up to a boil and reduce it to a simmer. Let simmer for 15 minutes.
While the sauce simmers, let’s put the meatballs together. Grab a pound of ground lamb and add the shallots and garlic you set aside earlier. To the lamb and shallots add an egg, some fresh basil, breadcrumbs, salt, and chili flakes. Using clean hands, mix everything together. Then, using a teaspoon measure as a guide, roll the mixture into an army of mini meatballs. This will take a little time. Put on a podcast and/or put another member of your household to work.
The sauce should be good to go by now. Carefully pour the sauce into a food processor and blitz until smooth. Transfer the sauce to a bowl and set it aside. Now, you can brown those mini meatballs. They will cook through very quickly because of their small stature. And even if they don’t cook all the way through at this point, they most certainly will in a 500° F oven.
With all the toppings prepped and primed, it’s time to start building our pies. Stretch the dough into a pizza shape and cover it with the sauce. Next, dot the pizza with pieces of torn roasted red pepper and fresh mozzarella. Add the mini meatballs and cover everything with a sprinkling of Parmigiano Reggiano and crushed red pepper flakes. Bake the pizza on a heated pizza stone until golden and bubbly. Sprinkle the pizza with fresh basil leaves and serve immediately. Preferably with a beer or a nice bottle of red.
And there you have it, a cozy Mini Meatball Pizza that screams cozy date night in. This pizza may take a fair bit of time to put together but after that first slice fresh from the oven, you’ll forget all that simmering and rolling. This is a labor of love in the truest sense of the phrase.
Enjoy!
Mini Meatball Pizza with Spicy Arrabbiata Sauce
Equipment
- 1 pizza stone
- 1 Large skillet
- 1 Food Processor
- 1 Pizza Peel
Ingredients
Arrabbiata Sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 5 shallots sliced into half moons
- 8 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1-2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes **
- 1 (796ml, 27 fl oz) can whole tomatoes
- 2 tbsp Calabrian chilis in oil heaping
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 Parmigiano Reggiano rind optional
- 1 sprig fresh basil
Mini Lamb Meatballs
- 454g (1 lb) ground lamb
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup bread crumbs
- ¼ cup fresh basil chiffonade
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
For the Pizza
- 1 batch pizza dough *** divided into four
- Semolina flour for sprinkling
- 1 batch Arrabbiata Sauce see above
- 1 cup roasted red peppers drained and torn
- 250g (9oz) fresh mozzarella sliced
- 1 batch Mini Lamb Meatballs see above
- 1 cup Parmigiano Reggiano shredded
- Fresh basil leaves for sprinkling
- crushed red pepper flakes for sprinkling
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet until shimmering. Add the shallots and a pinch of salt. Reduce the heat to low and sauté the shallots until translucent. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds more. Remove half of the garlic and shallot mixture and set it aside.2 tbsp olive oil, 5 shallots, 8 cloves garlic
- Stir the tomato paste and crushed red pepper flakes into the shallot mixture and sauté for 30 seconds. Pour in the whole tomatoes and break them up roughly with the back of your spoon. Stir in the dried oregano and Calabrian chiles and add the parm rind and the sprig of basil. Bring the sauce up to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Let cook for 15 minutes.1 tbsp tomato paste, 1-2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes **, 1 (796ml, 27 fl oz) can whole tomatoes, 2 tbsp Calabrian chilis in oil, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1 Parmigiano Reggiano rind, 1 sprig fresh basil
- Turn off the heat and remove the sprig of basil and the parm rind. Pour the sauce into a food processor and blitz until smooth. Transfer the sauce to a bowl and set aside to cool. ****
For the Meatballs
- Place the lamb in a large bowl. Add the shallots and garlic you sauté and set aside earlier. Add an egg, bread crumbs, basil, crushed red pepper flakes, and salt. Using clean hands, mix everything together.454g (1 lb) ground lamb, 1 large egg, ⅓ cup bread crumbs, ¼ cup fresh basil, 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, 1 tsp kosher salt
- Using a teaspoon as a guide, form the mixture into a series of mini meatballs. Chill until ready to cook.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet until shimmering. Working in batches, add the meatballs to the skillet and sauté until browned on all sides. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.2 tbsp olive oil
For the Pizza
- Preheat the oven to 500°F with a pizza stone inside. Dust a pizza peel with semolina flour.Semolina flour for sprinkling
- Take a piece of the pizza dough and stretch it into a pizza shape. Place it on the peel. Top the dough with the sauce, roasted red peppers, mozzarella, meatballs, and Parmigiano Reggiano. Slide the pizza off of the peel onto the stone in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden and bubbly.1 batch pizza dough ***, 1 batch Arrabbiata Sauce, 1 cup roasted red peppers, 250g (9oz) fresh mozzarella, 1 batch Mini Lamb Meatballs, 1 cup Parmigiano Reggiano
- Slide the pizza off of the stone using the peel and transfer it to a cutting board. Dust the peel with more semolina and build another pizza. Repeat until all the pizzas are cooked.
- Sprinkle the pizzas with fresh basil leaves and crushed red pepper flakes and serve immediately.Fresh basil leaves, crushed red pepper flakes
