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Pizza Balls

A delicious pizza ball recipe made from real food ingredients.
Course Snack

Ingredients
  

  • 4 cups of white whole-wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1 1/4 cups water
  • 2 tsp. sea salt
  • 3 tsp. yeast
  • 1 lb. mozzarella shredded
  • 1/4 lb. pepperoni chopped into bite-sized pieces

Instructions
 

  • The night before you want to make these, mix the flour, oil, and water in a bowl.  Cover it, and set it aside.  This is the soaking step, and we do this to neutralize the phytic acid (which makes it healthier and more digestible).  It needs to sit at least 12 hours in a warm place.  (I was crazy tired and forgot to take pictures of these initial steps, sorry!)
  • The next day, add the sea salt and the yeast and stir it together.  Knead it for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.  Return it to the bowl and place it in a warm location.  Allow it to rise until doubled, about 2 hours.
  • Punch it down.  Shred your mozzarella if it doesn't come that way.  I accidentally did twice as much as I needed, so I froze the rest for another time.
  • Chop up your pepperoni into bite-sized pieces.  I started with Applegate Farms' sandwich-size pepperoni slices.  It is nitrate-free and uncured.  I chopped each slice into 16 pieces.
  • Now, you could choose to add diced green peppers, sliced and sauteed mushrooms, cooked sausage, or whatever other pizza toppings you prefer.  I kept it simple this time, but I might try using peppers, mushrooms, and sausage next time!  (Which my kids wouldn't eat...oh well.)
  • Roll three small pieces of dough into balls.  1" balls work great in regular-sized muffin trays (which should be greased), and 1/2" balls work great in mini-muffin trays.
  • Grab your dough balls in your hand.
  • Add a tbsp. or so of cheese and 4 - 5 pepperoni pieces.
  • Mash it into a rough ball shape, with the toppings mostly in the center.  Put this into the muffin trays.
  • Let this rise for about an hour.  Preheat the oven to 425 (but don't accidentally put them in the oven to rise and forget that when you go to preheat!).  Bake the pizza balls for about 15 minutes.
  • When they're done, pop them out and serve them with tomato sauce for dipping, or let them cool completely and put them in a bag and freeze.  They can be reheated by separating them on a tray (with space between each ball) and baking at 400ºF for 5 - 10 minutes.

Notes

From frozen they can be reheated by placing them separated on a tray and baking at 400 for 5 – 10 minutes.