meatballs

Pizza Topping Ideas

2016, cooking

We have been making pizzas at home for about 4 years.  Recently, it has become more of a stable, ever since we realized that our preschooler loves it (no surprise!)  Our go to method:

  1. Use  a store bought whole wheat dough.  It’s sweeter and has a nice texture compared to regular dough.
  2. Drizzle a metal baking pan with oil and press the dough into the pan.
  3. Often less is more-not too much sauce or topping otherwise you end up with a raw crust.  But most would argue that you could pile on the cheese!
  4. Using light shredded cheese takes some of the guilt away since we eat this pretty often.
  5. Bake at 425 degrees on the middle rack for 10-12 minutes, depending on the amount of toppings works our quite well.

The product is a pizza with a chewy, fluffy, ready crust!   Here are a few of my favorite combinations

the Chicago-Sausage, mushroom, provolone, pecorino and caramelized onion, pizza sauce – our favorite thus far. Can’t go wrong with pork!

the Naked Pizza-Bacon, mashed potato, roasted garlic, roasted cauliflower, sautéed spinach, ricotta, pecorino (no sauce)

BBQ Chicken-Store bought BBQ pulled chicken, red onion, sliced black olives, frozen roasted corn, mozzarella, BBQ sauce

Meatball Sub-Meatball, marinara, mozzarella, basil, pecorino

I would love to play around with figs and more roasted vegetables. Next pizza will be sausage, roasted bell pepper, basil for tomorrow night.

My favorite restaurant pizza combinations:

Spinach, garlic, ricotta, tomato sauce

Broccoli, tomato, olive, onion

Zucchini, Mushroom, Eggplant

Lion Head Meatballs

2007, celebrations, friends, holidays

First made for Kai Ming’s Chinese New Year Party 2007

*Note this is not mom’s recipe*

Yields 10 large meatballs

  • 2 lb ground pork
  • 2 TBSP soaked dried shrimp, minced
  • 1 can coarsely chopped water chestnuts
  • 2 green onions chopped
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 TBSP minced ginger
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 2 TBSP cornstarch
  • 3 TB2P soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • salt/pepper
  • flour for dredging
  • sesame oil for finishing
  • napa cabbage cut into large pieces to trade the meatballs
  • chicken broth, enough to cover the meatballs halfway up
  1. Gently combine the pork, shrimp, water chestnuts, green onions,4 cloves garlic, 2 TBSP ginger,eggs, cornstarch, soy sauce.   Form into loose balls
  2. Dredge in flour and brown on all sides
  3. Lay the cabbage down in 2 layers, then place the meatballs on top
  4. Add the chicken broth and drizzle on the sesame oil and a little extra soy sauce for color.  Add additional 2 cloves minced garlic and 2 tsp minced ginger into the broth
  5. Bake at 350 degrees, basting occasionally till meatballs are cooked (~45 minutes)
  6. Transfer to stovetop and reduce sauce till thickened