Meatza

Today I went to the commissary.  They hand awesome ribeye steaks that were cut about 1 1/2 inch thick.  I had great plans for grilling them on the weber.  Marc had another idea.  He came home and said he wanted pizza!  Pizza?  What about those steaks?  Nope he wanted pizza.

Things are not easy around here.  Especially when I can't eat anything with wheat gluten.  Any normal family would pick up the phone and order a darn pizza.  Not us.  Oh no, certainly not us.  So, I'll just have to make a pizza.  I love making pizza.  I really do.  I have perfected my sauce and it is as good as any pizzeria sauce.  I generally use Chebe bread dough as my crust.  It's a great gluten free alternative and I buy it by the case.  Surely I have some Chebe bread mix.  No!  Focaccia dough mix?  None of that either.

Then I remember the Meatza!  Yes, that is what I'll do.  I ran across this idea a long time ago when I first had to start eating gluten free.  The basic idea is to take ground meat, flatten it into a large patty, bake it in the oven, pour off the "juice" then top it off like a pizza, and bake some more.  Some people use ground beef, some use a mixture of ground beef and Italian sausage, others ground beef and pork sausage.  I have a better idea.  I have not done this in a long time.  I'll use some of those Tyson brand precooked sausage patties.

So, the first thing to do is make the sauce.  I use a 6 ounce can of tomato paste and then add about 3 ounces of water to that. Mix it up in a bowl, until it's smooth.  You do not want it to be to watery.  Then I add about 1 teaspoon of oregano, basil, marjoram, garlic salt and then a couple cloves of crushed garlic.  Mix all of that together and let it hang out.  It needs about 30 minutes to really develop a great flavor.

So, while the sauce is hanging out developing that awesome pizza sauce flavor select the veggies you like and chop them up.  I like red onion, green peppers, black olives, and mushrooms.  I like to slice the veggies up pretty small because the sausage patties are only about 3 - 4 inches in diameter.  Normally I would use fresh mushrooms.  but, they are like $4.00 for a 4 ounce package here.  So, I just use the canned variety.

I bought these pepperoni at the deli counter a week or so ago.  They've been in the freezer waiting for me to do something with them.  They are a little different tasting than the Hormel pepperoni that I used to buy.  These kind of have a smoky peppery taste.  I really like them.

Okay, so I took 8 of those precooked frozen sausage patties that I was telling you about.  I cooked them over low heat to render off some of the fat.  Then, I put them on my Pampered Chef large bar pan.  I have had this pan for about 8 years.  I don't know what I'd do with out it.

Next I gave my sauce another stir and then put a little less than a tablespoon on each patty.  You want enough to cover it without it dripping off the sides.

Next I sprinkled on some mozzarella cheese.

Then piled on the toppings then another light sprinkling of cheese.

I baked these in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15-16 minutes.  I want that light sprinkling of cheese to be a little browned.

I used the pizza cutter to cut each meatza into fourths.  I like mine with some Parmesan cheese and crushed red peppers.  I think these would be great party appetizers.  I can just see them with little tooth picks in them.  You know, the kind with the little frilly end.