Pizza Balls

I came on to write this post today and realized that "Wow, it's been 2 weeks since we've shared anything with our readers".  I traveled  home a few weeks ago to visit family and attend the local county fair. It's really something special, the largest county fair in the country that is only eclipsed in size by a few state fairs. It's an event that is just woven into the DNA of all who grew up there. The one time a year that the locals get to show off the hard work they put into their livestock, gardens, baking, sewing, quilting, art, photography, you name, it's there. As a youngster I had no use for the "Commercial Exhibits" but as an adult I run for those exhibit halls to see what was the newest kitchen gadget, cookware, gardening tool etc that was being demo'd.  The high anticipation of finding a new toy for my cooking and running back here to blog and tell you all about it was met with disappointment. NOTHING, nothing new at all and not much in those halls at all worth perusing made the trip through them brief.  It wasn't a total loss, however, because it just gave me more time to spend with my family.  Because you see, the Canfield Fair is a "family event" for me. Aunts and Uncles, cousins galore, sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews all there just as they all have been from the time they were in a stroller. Each as different and unique as the next, each having chosen different career paths, different cities to call home and different hobbies to occupy their time but all the same when it comes to the fair. All "home" and all "family".

A return to my home was a reminder for me of the self-imposed chaos in my house. A new sofa coming in three weeks and a total home makeover to be tackled. Every room is getting a new paint color, a new wall unit being built into the living room, hardwood floors that need a cleaning and a facelift and lots of things to be sorted and removed. I'll be posting soon on some of those projects and the how-to's of them. But alas, yesterday was Sunday and that meant "football" and "game day food".  My cousin Cathy had shared a recipe for pizza balls with me a few months back. I tried it and they caused quite a bit of stir with some of my facebook friends asking for the recipe. I held back because I knew there were some things I wanted to try to improve on these already great little treats.  One thing that didn't need improvement was the simplicity.  So easy that after the kids or that special person in your life goes nuts over them they can make it themselves. The original recipe called for a colby or cheddar cheese and I thought mozzarella would make them more "pizza-y" and trying to keep them a little more healthy I used turkey pepperoni, which if we're honest just doesn't have that much flavor.  I'm glad I held out until I made the changes because this time they were spot on and the perfect football meal.

To start, preheat your oven to 425 and grease a 9 x 13 baking dish.  Next we're going to prepare our ingredients so it's just assembly after that.  Cut a block of mozzarella cheese into 30 little cubes, fill a bowl with pepperoni slices (you're going to need 120 of them) and pop open 3 tubes of Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuits.

To assemble, flatten a biscuit with the palm of your hand. (I've found doing this on a styrofoam plate works nicely and they are easily removable).  In the center of your flattened biscuit stack 2 slices of pepperoni, one cube of cheese and then two more slices of pepperoni.

Now just simply pull all your edges up together to hide all that yumminess inside a ball.

After you've gotten it all wrapped up, place it in your prepared baking dish with your pinched side down. Continue until you have all 30 balls placed in your dish.  Then beat one egg and brush the top of each ball and sprinkle them with garlic powder, Italian Seasoning and Parmesan cheese.

Once they bake in your preheated oven for 18-20 minutes they puff up into wonderful golden brown balls filled with gooey goodness ready to be dipped into some warm pizza sauce and munch away play by play.

Having friends over for the game? Assemble them ahead of time, cover them and leave them in the refrigerator until you're ready to pop them in the oven.  They are very filling 4 or 5 per serving easily feeds 6 or 7 guests.

Ingredients:

3 tubes of Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuits

1 block of Mozzarella Cheese

120 slices of pepperoni

1 jar of pizza sauce for dipping

1 egg  for brushing the tops

Garlic powder, Italian Seasoning and Parmesan Cheese

Assemble balls, place in greased 9x13 baking dish, brush with beaten egg, sprinkle tops with garlic powder, Italian Seasoning and Parmesan Cheese and bake for 18-20 minutes at 425 degrees.

Warm pizza sauce for dipping and enjoy!