Meatzza Mania! (Egg-free Recipe)

Today is a special day, so DH wants to have a nice meal. The last pizza we indulged in was the excellent Sunset Diavolo (thin crust) at Little Croc a while back. We are also curious about the oft-mentioned Meatzzas, a grain-free carnivore extravaganza that promises to cure any pre-Paleo/low-carb longing for the delights of crusty pizzas.

I am using the double zz in Meatzza because I think it lovely dish like this deserves an extra Z in its name. We used Mark Sisson's Greek Meatza with Creamy Feta, Kalamata Olives and Red Onion recipe as a starting point, and modified it somewhat. For starters, DH is not a huge fan of olives, and we definitely don't have feta cheese. We aimed for a more Italian feel. And we didn't use any eggs, because while making our own burgers we never needed to use any sort of binding agent. I got up nice and early and got our meat fresh at the Farmer's Market. DH ground our meat in our small meat grinder, and de-seeded the tomatoes for the sauce. You could also use any pasta sauce of your choice, just watch out for any wheat, MSG or any other unfavourable additives. Start off with the sauce first, if you are making your own, then while the sauce is simmering on the stove top you can start on the meatzza base. So here goes:

Mama Pongkey's Meatzza Mania

Ingredients for Simple Tomato Sauce:

• 0.9 kg tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
• 3 small red onions, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 teaspoon mixed herbs (thyme, rosemary, marjoram, basil, oregano, sage)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon palm oil
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 5 teaspoons tomato puree
  
• dash of fish sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

Method for Simple Tomato Sauce:

Heat up the oils, and add in the chopped onions and garlic. Saute until slightly browned.
Add the rest of the ingredients in, and cook on low heat until tomato pieces are softened.


Ingredients for Meattzza base:

• 1 kg minced beef
• 2 cloves garlic, pounded
• 1 tablespoon crushed fried red onions/red shallots
• 2 teaspoons mixed herbs
  
• 2 teaspoons Himalayan rock salt, or to taste
  
• 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper, or to taste

Ingredients for topping:

• 250 g shredded cheddar cheese
• 125 g shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 green pepper, sliced
  

Method for Meatzza:

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celcius (or 340 degrees F)
Mix all ingredients thoroughly by hand.
Place mix into a tray of choice, preferably with edges to catch the drippings.


















Bake for 10-12 minutes.



















(I think we left this one in the oven a wee bit longer than 12 minutes. If you look closely, you can see the cracks in our base. I think it looked like a delta.)

Take the meatzza out, spread the Simple Tomato Sauce on top.
In the meantime, set the temperature of your oven to grill at 220 degrees Celcius (430 degrees Farenheit).



















Place veggies, cheddar and mozzarella on top. Top off with a sprinkle of mixed herbs.



















Grill for approximately 5-7 minutes. This really depends on how you like your cheese, just softened and melted, or slightly browned as we do.