I have come to appreciate, that as much as I love to sit down and dine on the perfect well executed meal, lovingly prepared by myself, or the chefs at some of my favorite restaurants, what I truly love are appetizers, small bites, tapas, I love to experience different foods all at once, and having small bites affords me the chance to take it all in and savor each glorious bite. This is now my “new normal” since my weight-loss surgery, as I am really not able to eat a lot of food all at once. For instance, our “new normal” my fireman and I, when we dine out, is that we get an appetizer, which is mostly healthy, and we split that, and then we will share one dinner, usually a lean protein, fish, steak or chicken with a salad or steamed veggies.
It’s amazing to me when I consider the amount of food my fireman and I would consume when we would dine out. Two appetizers sometimes, and full dinners each, along with cocktails, and sometimes dessert and spiked coffees. Holy hell, no wonder the pounds crept up! But to be fair, mostly we were, and still are healthy eaters. Portion control was the nasty bitch. But I digress.
What are pizza bombs anyway?
This recipe is not earth shattering by any means, it is a smaller scale of my homemade pepperoni and sausage bread. I figure I can have one bomb or two and be good to go, not half a loaf like the good old days! Basically, you are taking homemade or commercial pizza dough, rolling it into a rectangle, trimming it off with a pastry or pizza cutter, where you will evenly cut into appx. 16 squares, brush on the garlic butter mixture, fill with homemade or doctored pizza sauce, and dollop the square with sauce, a slice of pepperoni, I used Hormel turkey pepperoni, and some shredded mozzarella, I used an Italian blend that Kraft makes and it is my go to favorite shredded cheese. Take each square, from corner to corner and form a tight ball, and place seam side down in a cast iron skillet brushed with some more garlic butter. Place each pizza bomb tightly next to each other so they will morph together to make a pull apart pizza essentially. Brush all the pizza bombs with more garlic butter, top with pizza sauce and more mozzarella cheese, and bake in a 400° oven for about 25 to 30 minutes or until pizza bombs are done and cheese is melted.
Can I use frozen bread dough?
This can totally be done with frozen bread dough. Rhodes makes a killer one that is superb for making Italian pepperoni and sausage bread. Easy, peasy!
Do I have to use pepperoni?
No you do not, cooked sausage, sliced salami, or even veggies, along with the sauce and cheese are all perfect in this!
I have to warn you, these Pepperoni Pizza Bombs are so addictive if you love a pizza, garlic knots or bread in general. I like to make this pull apart fashion, in a cast iron skillet, because the cast iron skillet browns everything perfectly, and does a nice job of keeping everything gloriously cheese. I make two batches of these one with whole wheat dough, and one with unbleached all-purpose flour. It makes me feel better about indulging. All about balance people! Everything in moderation except a loving heart! You can never love too much! Or can you? Hmmmm. Food for thought for my next blog.
If you are looking for a nice change of pace from the same old same old, these Pepperoni Pizza Bombs, definitely foot the bill. These are the perfect game day snack, quick, easy and so delish! Give these a try, you won’t be disappointed.
Sinfully,
Susan xoxo
Enjoy!
Pepperoni Pizza Bombs
The perfect balance between pizza and pepperoni bread in a bite size, cheese, delicious pizza bomb!
- You can use mini pepperoni or mini turkey pepperoni, even cooked sausage out of the casing, browned and crumbled is perfect in this. *** To save time use store-bought pizza dough. I use homemade as I always have some in the freezer ready to go. Credit: CrazySexySavor.com/Susan Mangieri-Maurath
Ingredients
- 1 pkg. of pizza dough homemade or store-bought
- 3/4 cup of mini pepperoni or several slices of deli sliced cut into quarters
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 1/3 cup of EVOO
- 3 1/2 tbsp. of grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- 1 1/2 tsp. of dried Italian Seasoning
- Kosher salt and cracked black pepper to taste
- 3/4 c of shredded mozzarella I use an Italian Five Cheese Blend
- 1/4 cup plus 1 cup for dipping of pizza sauce or marinara sauce, (I use a canned pizza sauce then jazz it up with the following: 1 1/2 tsp. of EVOO, 1 tsp. of garlic powder, 3/4 tsp. of onion powder, 1 tsp. of dried basil, 1 tsp. of Italian seasoning, 1 1/2 tsp. of red pepper flakes, 1 1/2 tsp. of sugar, and Kosher salt, and cracked pepper to taste, combine ingredietns and heat in a small sauce pan to meld flavors and cook the ingredients. About 10 mintues on a low simmer is all you need.
- chopped flat leaf Italian parsley and a bit more red pepper flakes for topping dipping sauce
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400°. Meanwhile on a floured surface roll out pizza dough to form a rectangle, as if you were making a Sicilian style pizza. Using a pizza cutter on a floured surface cut into 16 even squares. This is the easiest way to add the sauce, pepperoni, and cheese.
- In a medium bowl combine, melted butter, EVOO, minced garlic, Pecorino Romano cheese, Italian Seasoning, salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Meanwhile in a small bowl add about 1/4 cup of pizza sauce. Now begin assembling your pepperoni pizza bombs, with a pastry brush or similar, brush the dough square with the garlic butter mixture, next drop a teaspoon of marinara sauce, then the pepperoni, next a sprinkling of mozzarella cheese, careful not to over stuff. With lightly floured hands, pick of the dough square and form it into a tight ball, hence the “bomb” and add it to your cast iron skillet seam side down. Finish in similar fashion with all of the dough, it is OK to crowd the pan, but do not overlap or the pizza bombs will not cook evenly.
- When you have lined your skillet with as many bombs as you can, brush generously with the remaining garlic butter mixture. Sprinkle with some sauce, mozzarella cheese. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until pizza bombs are done and cheese is gooey and melted. Remove from oven.
- In a microwave safe bowl, heat the remaining pizza sauce until heated through. Sprinkle with some red pepper flakes and chopped parsley, and serve alongside the Pepperoni Pizza Bombs if desired. Mangia!
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