Wood fired pizza, topped with lightly spiced meatballs, mushrooms, red onion, and provolone and a rich tomato sauce, what's not to like!?
Making delicious restaurant quality pizza at home isn't hard, and with Ooni's line of outdoor pizza ovens, any one can make unique, woodfired pizza's at home any time of the year.
This meatball pizza recipe is sponsored by Ooni Pizza Ovens. Find more information in our Affiliate Disclosure. All opinions are our own.
This post contains affiliate links for which we may be compensated if a purchase is made through the links provided. For more information please read our affiliate disclosure.
Jump to:
Ooni Pizza Oven Review
We received an Ooni Karu 16 Pizza oven for free to create and test out a few delicious recipes. You can try out our baked cranberry brie pull apart bread, and read our full review of what we thought of the Ooni pizza oven here.
To sum up our review, the Ooni pizza ovens are fantastic and we absolutely love ours! They are easy to use, clean up is minimal at best, have a very social aspect to them, making them ideal for get togethers with friends and family, and best of all, they create delicious Neapolitan style pizza extremely quickly!
Make sure to read the full review where we cover some tips and tricks and other gear that will make using a pizza oven at home that much easier!
Ingredients
For the meatballs
- 800 grams ground beef
- 1 whole egg
- 1 large clove garlic -minced
- ¼ medium red onion - minced
- ½ jalapeno (with seeds) - minced
- ⅛ teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
For The Pizza Itself
- 1 batch Neapolitan style pizza dough - we used Ooni's classic pizza dough recipe which yields five 12" pizzas
- 650ml Classic pizza sauce
- 300 grams provolone cheese - shredded
- 8 oz cremini mushrooms - sliced and sauteed
- ½ red onion - cut into a thin julienne
- 2 cups baby arugula
The Prep Work
Before we get to cooking the actual pizza's in the wood fired pizza oven, you'll need to do the most important part of making good quality pizza: the prep work.
When cooking pizza's in a pizza oven that only take a minute or two to cook, it's important to have all the ingredients, (so dough, sauce, and toppings) done and ready to go beforehand. This ensures you can quickly assemble and cook the pizza's one at a time as oven space allows.
The Dough
Prepare the pizza dough ahead of time, allowing time to proof and shape the individual doughs.
We chose to use Ooni's classic pizza dough recipe because it's proven to work in the Ooni ovens, is easy to make and tastes delicious! Get the pizza dough recipe here or use your own favorite pizza dough recipe.
All the ingredients and instructions in this recipe will yield five 12" pizzas if using Ooni's classic pizza dough recipe.
The Meatballs
To make the meatballs, mix the ground beef, egg, minced garlic, onion, jalapeno, and spices in a medium sized bowl.
Use a small spoon or portion scoop to scoop out evenly sized balls of meat. Keep the balls small and bite sized to make eating the pizza easier. If the meatballs are to large, cut them in half after cooking to make eating them easier!
Bake the meatballs on a sheet pan in an oven (or even the Ooni oven!) at 375F for 10- 15 minutes until lightly browned and cooked all the way through.
The Remaining Toppings
Slice the cremini mushrooms and sauté them in oil or butter until golden brown. Season with salt, pepper and cool.
Peel and julienne the red onion and set aside.
Shred the provolone cheese on a box grater and set aside.
The Sauce
Any pizza sauce will work for this pizza. Make sure to use a good quality pizza sauce that's nice and rich for maximum flavor.
Instructions - Assemble & Cook the Pizza
Once all the ingredients are ready to go you can fire up your Ooni pizza oven and get cooking!
Heat the oven aiming for about 850F on the baking stone by using the infrared thermometer.
Dust your pizza peel with flour, and then stretch out your pizza dough to about 10 - 12 inches in diameter. Lay the dough on the peel, and use a large spoon to quickly, yet carefully spread out the pizza sauce on the dough.
Spread some of the sauteed mushrooms on top of the sauce, followed by the provolone cheese, making sure to evenly cover the sauce, yet not adding to much cheese.
Top the pizza with the fully cooked meatballs, and julienned red onion.
Fire the pizza into the hot Ooni oven, making sure to turn regularly as the pizza cooks. Don't walk away as the pizza cooks quickly!
Once done, remove the pizza from the oven, top with fresh arugula, slice, and serve!
Tips for cooking wood fired pizza's
- For best results when cooking with your Ooni pizza oven, temperature control is key. To make this easy, Ooni sells a handy infrared thermometer which can tell you exactly how hot the pizza stone is. This ensures you have evenly cooked pizza's every time!
- Turn the pizza often, about every 15 to 30 seconds or so to prevent scorching on one side. The hotter the pizza stone and ambient air temperature, the more you will have to turn the pizza.
- While Ooni reccomends cooking pizza's at very high temperatures with full flame to achieve a classic 60 second cook time, it is easier for beginner pizza cooks to cook at lower temperatures. Don't worry the pizza will cook just the same, it will just take a little longer.
- If using the Ooni Karu with wood or charcoal, use a high quality fuel to ensure even temperatures in your oven. Add small amounts often and in-between cooking pizzas to maintain even temperatures.
Recipe
Wood Fired Meatball Pizza
Equipment
- 1 Ooni Karu 16" Pizza Oven
Ingredients
For the meatballs
- 800 grams ground beef
- 1 whole egg
- 1 large clove garlic minced
- ¼ medium red onion minced
- ½ whole jalapeno with seeds - minced
- ⅛ teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
For The Pizza Itself
- 1 batch Neapolitan style pizza dough
- 650 ml Classic pizza sauce
- 300 grams provolone cheese shredded
- 8 oz cremini mushrooms sliced and sauteed
- ½ whole red onion cut into a thin julienne
- 2 cups baby arugula
Instructions
The Dough
- Prepare the pizza dough ahead of time, allowing time to proof and shape the individual doughs.
The Meatballs
- To make the meatballs, mix the ground beef, egg, minced garlic, onion, jalapeno, and spices in a medium sized bowl.
- Use a small spoon or portion scoop to scoop out evenly sized balls of meat. Keep the balls small and bite sized to make eating the pizza easier. If the meatballs are to large, cut them in half after cooking to make eating them easier!
- Bake the meatballs on a sheet pan in an oven (or even the Ooni oven!) at 375F for 10- 15 minutes until lightly browned and cooked all the way through.
The Remaining Toppings
- Slice the cremini mushrooms and sauté them in oil or butter until golden brown. Season with salt, pepper and cool.
- Peel and julienne the red onion and set aside.
- Shred the provolone cheese on a box grater and set aside.
The Sauce
- Any pizza sauce will work for this pizza. Make sure to use a good quality pizza sauce that's nice and rich for maximum flavor.
Instructions - Assemble & Cook the Pizza
- Heat the oven aiming for about 850F on the baking stone by using the infrared thermometer.
- Dust your pizza peel with flour, and then stretch out your pizza dough to about 10 - 12 inches in diameter. Lay the dough on the peel, and use a large spoon to quickly, yet carefully spread out the pizza sauce on the dough.
- Spread some of the sauteed mushrooms on top of the sauce, followed by the provolone cheese, making sure to evenly cover the sauce, yet not adding to much cheese.
- Top the pizza with the fully cooked meatballs, and julienned red onion.
- Fire the pizza into the hot Ooni oven, making sure to turn regularly as the pizza cooks. Don't walk away as the pizza cooks quickly!
- Once done, remove the pizza from the oven, top with fresh arugula, slice, and serve!
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
Leave a Reply