Pizza Balls

Intro: Pizza Balls

I'm an experimental cook. I like to trying out new things, and creating my own recipes.
This is one of my more recent creations. I've cooked it a few times before, but have recently perfected the recipe.
Pizza balls are an easy to eat portable food that can be eaten as a snack or as part of a meal. They can be eaten hot or cold and are ideal for things like picnics.

STEP 1: The 'base': Ingredients

To make the bread part, you will need:
650g of plain or strong white flour
1 sachet (7g) of yeast
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of sugar
25ml of oil
350ml of warm water

STEP 2: Making the 'base'

Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Make sure they are mixed well so they yeast is distributed evenly through the flour.
Add the oil and 100ml of the water. Mix it all together. Slowly add more water to the mix, until it is combined thoroughly. The mix shouldn't be so dry that it doesn't stick together but it shouldn't be so wet that it can be poured easily. If the mix is too wet, add flour and stir until it become the right consistency.
Leave the mix in a warm place to rise for 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

STEP 3: The Sauce: Ingredients

To make the tomato and herb sauce, you will need:
Tomatoes. Tinned or hand chopped
Mixed Italian herbs
1/4 of an onion
2 cloves of garlic
Tomato paste
A pinch of salt

The sauce can be modified and changed to suit particular tastes. This is suited to my tastes.

STEP 4: The Sauce: Tomatoes

If you've used whole tomatoes, chop them finely. You might want to add a dash of oil or water to them, to help them soften when cooking.

STEP 5: The Sauce: Combining

Put the chopped/tinned tomatoes and puree in sauce pan and simmer them over a low heat until they begin to break down. Add the finely chopped onion and crushed cloves of garlic. Simmer and stir. Add the herbs and salt to suit your tastes.
You can add other things such as pepperoni or finely chopped pepper to add an extra taste.

STEP 6: The Base: Knocking Back

Gently separate the dough into 8. Spread flour over your work surface and knock each ball back in turn. The more you kneed them, the and more stretchy and elastic they will become.

STEP 7: Creating the Ball

Stretch each ball out into a rough circle. Put 1/8th of the sauce in the middle of each circle. Join the edges of the circle at the top into a parcel.
To give them an extra golden brown colour once cooked, paint them with milk before cooking.

STEP 8: Cooking

Cook the balls at 200 degrees Celsius for 15-20 minutes. When ready, they should be golden brown (if you put milk on the top) and should give a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to vote for me in the baking and potluck contests! It would make my day!

Comments

[786Ayesha]

Congratulation on your first win!

[Athram]

Thanks! You can't imagine how happy I am! I'm hoping for a second win the the Christmas Jumper contest! :)

[786Ayesha]

All the best!

[neo71665]

The Pillsbury biscuits are cardboard tubes of canned dough. I'm sure if you look hard enough in the UK somewhere you can find them but I don't ever recall seeing them while I was there. Besides homemade biscuits are so much better. I mimic the pillsbury recipe (with homemade dough) but add real bacon bits, sausage cooked then crumbled, and a pepper slice or two. My son and girlfriend would rather wait for me to make them over the frozen pizza bites.

[Athram]

Homemade things are often much better. They're good fun to make too. I'm just starting to get into cooking so I look to make more and more things myself!

[tnorm5828]

A not so home made way to make them that I think I got off someone on Facebook.

3 cans Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuits (10 ct)
60 pepperoni slices (2 per biscuit)
Block of cheese (Colby/Monterey Jack or Chedder)
1 beaten egg
Parmesan Cheese
Italian Seasoning
Garlic Powder
1 jar pizza sauce

INSTRUCTIONS

Slice cheese into approx. 28 squares. Flatten each biscuit and stack pepperoni and cheese on top (Like in the picture) Gather edges of biscuit and secure on top of the roll. Line rolls in greased 9x13 pan Brush with beaten egg. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning and garlic powder. Bake at 425 degrees F. for 18 to 20 mins. Serve with warm pizza sauce for dipping.

[Athram]

I love the sound of that! Are Pillbury Buttermilk Biscuits cans of pastry or dough? I don't think we have them over here in England!

[tnorm5828]

Entirely dough. Much more like a bread. Though I believe Pillsbury also makes pastry in a can as well.

[Athram]

I think we've got something similar here!

[Athram]

Ahh, I think we've g

[Horrorzilla]

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pepperoni-rolls/ - they are a staple here in Erie,PA. Cut them in half and add sauce n such...POW, pizza balls. Yours look delicious - great recipe.

[Athram]

They look delicious! I wish we ate them more over here in England!

[Ale Cylon]

I really like this idea but man... you need to put some cheese in it.

[Athram]

I don't know why I didn't think of that! It seems obvious now. I guess it works with and without, perhaps you could melt the cheese on the top! :)

[alfredhenriksen]

oh my god, I have to try that!
(naah, one don't need cheese)

I strongly recommend using canned tomatoes, the fresh one are usually plucked when they're green so they tastes more bland than canned.
Add a (half?) bay leaf and remove it after the cooking, and I strongly recommend basil. (one bayleaf, and one teaspoon dried basill with 1kg tomatoes)
If you cook longer the taste will be deeper and stronger, up to 45minutes if you dare. :)
if it tastes to "sharp", add 1 teaspoon sugar.

Thanks a lot.

[Athram]

Thanks for the suggestions, I had never thought of using a bayleaf!
Tinned tomatoes do work a lot better. As well as being more flavourful, they give you a larger quantities of sause for less work.
I you do make them, post a picture in the comments, I would love to se what they look like! :)

[MicioGatta]

Good recipe. In Italy we call something like this calzone (trouser).

[Athram]

Cool! I'm glad you liked the recipie!

[MicioGatta]

Maybe one day I'll try it out! Thank you for sharing!

[Athram]

I never thought of that! It would make then so much better, thanks. Mushrooms too!