Detroit Style Meatball Pizza and Yellowstone

Hello and welcome to Pizza and a Movie! Remember last Sunday when we did The Greatest Meatball Sub? Well, I had a destination in mind for the leftover meatballs and sauce from that recipe. Detroit Style Meatball Pizza, naturally. When I first did a Detroit-style pizza I made my own dough, but this time I wanted to see how it would go with a store-bought dough. Although this dough didn’t rise as high as my homemade dough, the results yielded a delicious puffy crust with a crispy bottom and edges. Let’s get right to it!

Start by preheating your oven to 475 degrees, let it preheat for about an hour. Generously oil your pizza pan. If you don’t have a dedicated Detroit-style pizza pan, a tall-sided 9×13-inch, or 10×14-inch pan will work for this pan pizza. Place your dough ball in the pan and turn to coat it in the oil. press it down to flatten the dough into the pan, then cover it and let it sit for about 20 minutes. Repeat this pressing of the dough to stretch it to fit the pan, cover and let it sit another 20 minutes.

A Note on the Detroit Style Pizza Pan

A classic, dedicated Detroit Style Pizza Pan is special because it is made from anodized aluminum which makes it heat safe up to 700 degrees F. And while the pan is stick resistant, it’s surface is safe for metal utensils. The traditional dark color of the metal helps with crisping up the bottom and sides of the pizza. If you’re a deep dish pizza lover and maker, I recommend LloydPans 10×14-inch Pan. This pan is super durable, easy to clean and will nest with other pans for easy storage.

If you don’t happen to have leftover meatballs and sauce, no sweat! You can make this with store-bought meatballs. If they’re frozen, let them thaw first. And by all means, use a jar of your favorite store-bought sauce!

Prep the Ingredients

In addition to meatballs and red sauce, lightly sauté one, thinly sliced onion. We aren’t looking for caramelized onions here, just sauté the onion slices in some olive oil until they are translucent. I have about 1 cup of grated low moisture mozzarella and 1 cup of grated sharp white cheddar cheese.

Depending on the size of your meatballs, prep them by either slicing them in half or into quarters. My leftover sandwich meatballs are pretty large, so I quartered them. You want enough to evenly top the pizza. And that’s it for prep!

Assembling the Detroit Style Meatball Pizza

You can see my dough is not quite reaching the corners of my pan, and that’s OK. It’s often the case with pizza dough that once you start adding the toppings, the dough will stretch a little farther. So after its 40 minutes (total) of resting in the pan, stretch your dough once more to get it to fill the pan as much as possible. Then go ahead and start adding the toppings.

Start with the meatballs, but reserve the sauce for the top layer. So we have (mostly) naked meatballs; then add the lightly sautéd onions. Once you have the meatballs and the onions on the pie, pull the corners of the dough out to fill the pan, if needed. Then spread the toppings out to reach the edges of the pan.

Now add the cheese; be sure to distribute your cheese all the way to the edges of the pan, covering the whole top of the pizza.

The last step is to add the sauce. Dollop spoon fulls of red sauce around the top of the pizza. You can make three rows of sauce, if you like. Or just dot the top.

Bake the pizza on the center rack for about 15-20 minutes. Until the pizza is puffed up in the pan a bit, the cheese in the center is melted, and the cheese along the edges is brown, verging on burnt.

Detroit Style Meatball Pizza

Use a fish turner or other rigid spatula to loosen the pizza from the sides of the pan and slide the spatula under the pizza and slide the whole pizza out of the pan onto a cutting board. Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley if you like, for a little color and slice into squares.

Glorious, thick melty cheese, with that beautiful crunchy/chewy cheesy crust; puffy interior crust, with savory meatballs. A perfect use for leftover meatballs and sauce – I can’t tell which I like better, the Greatest Meatball Sub or this Detroit Style Meatball Pizza…best not to choose a favorite because they are both absolutely delicious.

Movie Night: Yellowstone

Our pizza is ready so let’s get to the show! OK, OK…I know, Yellowstone is not technically a movie. But I have been so obsessed with this show that I couldn’t help but recommend it here. I came to this show late, when season 4 premiered, so I had some catching up to do. Yellowstone follows the Dutton Family and their fight to keep their way of life as ranchers in Montana.

This show is cinematic; it’s shot like a movie with a live orchestral score. In an interview I heard with the creator, Taylor Sheridan, he remarked that he (and everyone involved) refer to the show as a long form film. This really does come through in the edit we see on TV. With the series format we are able to dive deeply into the characters. One big plus for me is that one of my favorite country and western musicians, Ryan Bingham (Walker), is in the cast, and many of his songs are featured in the show.

Full of drama, action, romance and well-rounded characters possessing heart and grit, Yellowstone is an addictive piece of television. Catch the first three seasons streaming on Peacock and season 4 on Paramount Network (subscriptions required).

Thank you all so much for joining me today for Pizza and a Movie. If you haven’t already become addicted to Yellowstone, I highly recommend it, especially as winter still has us enjoying chilly evenings curled up with a blanket. Make this Detroit Style Meatball Pizza! Take care and be well, friends. xo Kelly

Equipment and Utensils Used in This Recipe

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Detroit Style Meatball Pizza

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Dinner, Main Course – Italian-American

By Kelly Djalali – Serves: 4-6

Prep Time: 15 Minutes (plus 40 minutes of resting time) – Cooking Time: 15-20 Minutes – Total Time: ~1 Hour

Leftover meatballs and tomato sauce get a second life as a Detroit Style Meatball Pizza. Loaded with gooey mozzarella and cheddar.

Ingredients

• 1 Prepared Fresh Pizza Dough
• 1 Onion, sliced thinly
• 6-8 Meatballs, halved or quartered
• 1 cup grated Mozzarella Cheese
• 1 cup grated Cheddar Cheese
• 1/2-1 cup Tomato Sauce
• Chopped Fresh Parsley, for garnish

Instructions

1

Preheat your oven to 475 degrees, let it preheat for about an hour.

2

Generously oil your pizza pan. If you don't have a dedicated Detroit-style pizza pan, a tall-sided 9x13 or 10x14-inch pan will work for this pan pizza.

3

Place your dough ball in the pan and turn to coat it in the oil. press it down to flatten the dough into the pan, then cover it and let it sit for about 20 minutes. Repeat this pressing of the dough to stretch it to fit the pan, cover and let it sit another 20 minutes.

4

Meanwhile, sauté the sliced onion in over medium heat with a tablespoon of olive oil. Cook the onion slices, while stirring occasionally, just until the slices go translucent. Remove from heat and set aside.

5

Stretch the dough to reach the edges of the pan, then top the dough with meatballs, reserving the sauce for the top.

6

Then top with the onions.

7

Cover the entire pizza with the two cheeses.

8

Top the pizza with dollops of tomato sauce.

9

Bake the pizza on the center rack for about 15-20 minutes. Until the pizza is puffed up in the pan a bit, the cheese in the center is melted, and the cheese along the edges is brown, verging on burnt.

10

Use a fish turner or other rigid spatula to loosen the pizza from the sides of the pan and slide the spatula under the pizza and slide the whole pizza out of the pan onto a cutting board. Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley if you like, for a little color and slice into squares.