Sheet Pan Pizza

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This is my go to pizza recipe. It is super easy, delicious and is really easy to make a few pies for a crowd. But, I don’t know really what to call it because I feel like it’s a mishmash of a few different styles of pizza. The crust definitely has ties to your classic Sicilian pizza, thick, airy, rich…think focaccia with pizza toppings. The sauce is a shout out to a classic Neapolitan…which I’m sure some people would argue it’s not, but whatever (haters gonna hate). It has a wonderful balance of acidity from the San Marzano tomatoes, sweetness from the sugar and then a nice pop of spice with the garlic and crushed red pepper. I give a little shout out to Detroit style pizza by loading the edge of the crust with extra cheese so you get those wonderful crispy, caramelized pieces of cheese. The toppings are my shout out to NY Style with the fresh shredded part skim mozzarella, spicy pepperoni and mushrooms…so you get that wonderful leopard pattern cheese with the crispy and fatty pieces of pepperoni with a nice meaty mushroom. Then to finish it all off, who doesn’t love a nice garlic butter crust! This is why I chose to keep it simple and just call it a sheet pan pizza. It’s the best and you need to try it!

*Note* If you don’t have a kitchen scale this recipe is empowering you to get one. It is one of my most used kitchen tools, particularly when baking…you need one and you should buy one. This concludes the PSA.

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Sheet Pan Pizza

Prep time: 30 min | Cook time: 20 min | Total time: 4 hrs | Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients

For the Dough

500 grams bread flour
14 grams kosher salt
6 grams instant yeast
20 grams extra-virgin olive oil
325 grams room-temperature water

For the Sauce

2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
9 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1 Tbsp italian seasoning
2 tsp red pepper flakes
28 oz San Marzano tomatos, canned
1 tsp sugar
kosher salt to taste

For Assembly

1 Lbs part-skim mozzarella, shredded
12 oz pepperoni
4 oz mushrooms, sliced
4 oz Pecorino Romano cheese, grated
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 stick Unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp granulated garlic
1/4 tsp Italian seasoning

Cooking Directions

To make the dough

1. In the bowl of stand mixer combine flour, salt, yeast, and 20g olive oil. Fit mixer with dough hook attachment. Add water to mixer and mix on medium speed until dough comes together and no dry flour remains. Increase speed to medium-high and mix until dough is stretchy and smooth, about 6 minutes. The dough should stick to the bottom of bowl, but pull away from the sides.
2. Pour 40g olive oil into a 13- by 18-inch rimmed baking sheet and spread over entire inner surface with your hands. Transfer dough to baking sheet and turn in oil until thoroughly coated. Spread gently with your hands. (It will not stretch to fill the pan; this is fine.) Cover baking sheet with another baking sheet upside down and allow to rise at room temperature until dough has slackened and started to spread out toward the edges of the pan, 2 to 3 hours. Using oiled hands, and working as gently as possible to maintain air bubbles, push and stretch dough into the corners of the pan by pressing out from the center, lifting each corner, and stretching it beyond the edge of the pan. It should pull back until pan is just filled with dough. Cover again and Set aside for 20 to 30 minutes while you make the sauce.

For the Sauce:

1. Remove the tomatoes from the can and place in a medium bowl. Using your hands crush the tomatoes into fine chunks. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until softened and aromatic, about 1 minute. Add crushed tomatoes. Stir in sugar. Bring to a bare simmer and allow to cook for about 15 minutes to let flavors meld. Season to taste with salt. Set aside and allow to cool slightly.
2. One hour before baking, adjust an oven rack to the lowest position. Ideally, but not necessary, place Baking Steel on the bottom rack. Preheat the oven and steel for 1 hour to 550F.

To Assemble and Bake

1. First add a generous layer of sauce to the dough. Then top with 1 lbs of shredded mozzarella, reserving a few tablespoons. Take the remaining cheese and go around the edge of the crust, this will give you that nice caramelized cheesy crust. Top with pepperoni and mushroom, or whatever toppings you prefer. Sprinkle the top with Italian seasoning and Pecorino Romano cheese. Place the pizza in a preheated oven and bake until the crust is brown and lifts easy from the pan, about 10-15 min. While the pizza is cooking mix together the melted butter, granulated garlic, and italian season. Remove from oven and brush the crust with garlic butter.

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Items used when creating this recipe:

• Baking Steel

  • Great investment. I’ve had mine for 9-10 years…basically since the company started. Still firing pies like a boss!

• Breville Stand Mixer

  • Had this mixer for 7 years and you wouldn’t even tell it’s that old. Looks and works perfect!

• Taylor Kitchen Scale

  • Best of the best, Taylor makes the best kitchen scales hands down. This is a commercial grade scale, they also make home scales as well.

Crunch Wrap Supreme

Happy Valentine's Day! Nothing says I love you like Taco Bell and when I go to Taco Bell, my go-to choice is the crunch wrap supreme....they are just so freakin good. My wife came across a homemade version, so we decided to take a crack at making them and they are awesome! You can also lighten this recipe up a little bit by substituting ground chicken, using light sour cream, and switching to a whole grain wrap. Also in this post I am giving you a recipe for a taco seasoning that works well for a 1 lbs portion of ground meat. I'm not going to lie, I rarely make my own, I find it more convenient buying just a packet at a time and I don't see much of a flavor difference between homemade taco seasoning and store bought ready to go. I would assume that making your a large batch of your own taco season is more cost effective per ounce, but I haven't done the math on this yet....would be interested to see that though if somebody has it! Really simple recipe though that we tend to use as a weeknight Mexican night. Give it a try and let me know what you think in the comments below!

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Taco Seasoning

Prep time: 10m | Total time: 10min | Yield: 1 batch

Ingredients

2 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp hot smoked paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Cooking Directions

1. Put all the ingredients in a small container and shake to combine. Use immediately with 1 lbs of ground meet with 2/3 cup liquid or store in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

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Crunch Wrap Supreme

Prep time: 10m | Cook time: 20min | Total time: 30min | Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

2 Tbsp canola oil, divided
1 lbs ground beef
1 serving taco seasoning below (or store bought)
2/3 cup water
4 large tortilla wraps
1/2 cup nacho cheese sauce
4 tostada
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup shredded cheddar jack cheese
2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
1 tomato, diced

Cooking Directions

1. In a large saute pan heat remaining 1 Tbsp of canolo oil in a large saute pan. Add ground beef and cook until beef has browned, making sure that you crumble the beef as you cook. Drain off excess fat. Add in the prepared taco seasoning with 2/3 cup water. Simmer until sauce has thickened.
2. Wrap 4 of the tortillas in a paper towel and microwave for 20 seconds until they are pliable. With the remaining tortilla use a 4" cookie cutter to create 4 small tortilla circles. If you don't have the cookie cutter, just cut out 4 circles roughly 4" in diameter.
3. Working one at a time, put taco meat in the center of each tortilla. Top with nacho cheese sauce and a tostada shell. Lightly press down on the tostada shell so that the compact the meat. Spread an even amount of sour cream on top of the tostada and top with shredded cheese, lettuce and diced tomato. Place one of the small tortilla circles you cut out on top.
4. Fold the edge up so that it overlaps the tortilla cirle. Continue working around the tortilla, folding up the edge as tight as possible. Repeat this process with remaining crunch wraps.
5. Heat the remaining tablespoon of canola oil in a large saute pan. Working in batchs, place crunch wrap seam-side down and cook until golden brown, about 2 min (Watch the temperature of your pan, the tortillas burn really quickly). Flip and cook the other side until golden brown, another 1-2 min. Repeat with remaining crunch wraps. Serve immediately

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Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs w/ Homemade Marinara

Hey Everybody! I know it has been a very long time since I have posted. But, man, I tell you what....it just seems like by the time I get home from work, having dinner, and spending time with the family, the last thing I feel like doing is sitting in front of the computer writing a blog post. I don't think people truly appreciate the amount of time it takes to create content and manage a food blog! But, the good news is I haven't really stopped creating content for the blog, because I haven't stopped cooking at all...the managing the blog has been the achilles heel for sure. "But, Eric, there is always nap time during the weekend where you can sit and blog!" True...there is....but I love playing video games haha. I do miss you all very much and am going to make a better effort to get posts done on a weekly basis. 

So, since I didn't have a horse in the super bowl race this past weekend, actually it was quite the opposite since I dislike New England and Philadelphia. I decided that I could drown my sorrows in delicious food and my wife recommended meatballs...so here we are. Delicious mozzarella stuffed meatballs made with a 50/50 blend of ground beef and Italian Sausage that were then slow cooked in a delicious homemade marinara sauce. We ended up making meatball hoagies, but you can use them however you like. Give them a try and let me know what you think below in the comment section!

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

Prep time: 20m | Cook time: 15min | Total time: 35min | Yield: 16 meatballs

Ingredients

1 small onion, grated (6 oz)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
2/3 cup grated Parmesan
1/3 cup Italian-style bread crumbs
1 large egg
2 Tbsp Ketchup
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
8 oz ground beef
8 oz Italian bulk sausage
2 oz mozzarella cheese, cut in 16 (1/2 inch) cubes

Cooking Directions

1. Position an oven rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine the onion, 1/2 cup parsley, 2/3 cup Parmesan, bread crumbs, egg, ketchup, garlic, red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add the beef and Italian sausage. Using your hands, combine all ingredients gently but thoroughly. Shape the meat mixture into 16 (1 1/2-inch-diameter, roughly 2 oz) meatballs and place on the prepared baking sheet. Make a hole in the center of each meatball and place a cube of mozzarella inside. Reform the meatball so that the mozzarella is completely covered with the meat mixture. Bake the meatballs for 15 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165F.
3. Use meatballs however you like! In my case, I put in the crockpot with some homemade marinara (Recipe below) and made meatball hoagies.

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Homemade Marinara

Prep time: 25m | Cook time: 30min | Total time: 55min | Yield: 5 cups

Ingredients

2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, crushed
Generous pinch red pepper flakes
1 tsp dried oregano
3 Tbsp tomato paste
2 (28 oz) cans san marzano whole peeled tomatoes
1 large sprig basil
Kosher salt, to taste
2 Tbsp unsalted butter

Cooking Directions

1. In a large pot, combine oil and garlic and heat over moderately low heat until garlic begins to very gently sizzle. Add red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until garlic just begins to turn a light golden color, about 3 minutes. Add oregano and continue to cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
2. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, until paste has softened and blended with the oil, about 3 minutes.
3. Stir in canned tomatoes and their juices, increase heat to medium-high, bring to a gentle simmer, then lower heat to maintain. Using an immersion blender, blend tomatoes until sauce is smooth. (Alternatively, blend tomatoes in a standard blender before adding to pot)
4. Add basil and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is reduced slightly and tastes rich, about 30 minutes. Season with salt.
5. Discard basil. Stir in butter, if using, until melted. Use sauce right away, or allow to cool to room temperature, transfer to sealed containers and refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 6 months.

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Cooking your meats to the perfect temperature is crucial not only from a food safety stand point, but from flavor and tenderness stand point as well. Make sure you cook your pork, like in this recipe to 135F. The best way to accurately monitor the internal temperature of your meats is by using a Thermapen MK4. They are the most durable, accurate, fast, and reliable thermometer on the market. These are a kitchen MUST HAVE! Go buy yourself a Thermapen MK4 today!

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