Italian Beef Pizza with Garlic Butter Sauce
The ultimate Chicago food mashup. Classic Italian beef flavors a cheesy thin crust pizza brushed with easy garlic butter sauce for a meat and cheese pizza that will please your crew.
Servings 2
Equipment
- cornmeal
Ingredients
- 1 ball of pizza dough from homemade pizza dough recipe; at room temp; store-bought also works *see below
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 cup extra sharp white cheddar grated; or more if you like
- 8 oz seasoned Italian beef use this Chicago style Italian beef recipe, well-drained; reserve juice for dunking. Can use store bought.
- 4-5 slices fresh mozzarella torn into pieces
- kosher salt
- ground black pepper
- Romano or Parmesan cheese
- crushed red pepper if desired
- ½ cup giardiniera drained
- cornmeal for sprinkling under crust so it doesn't stick to the pan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 500˚ and place a pizza stone in the oven to heat for about 20 minutes.
Make the garlic butter
- In a small 8" skillet, add the butter and minced garlic and melt/saute over medium heat. You want the butter to bubble but the garlic to not brown. This should take about 2 minutes.
Assemble the pizza
- To a large pizza peel, generously sprinkle on cornmeal.
- On a floured counter or cutting board, press the dough into a round and using fingers and pushing in a circular motion, swirl the crust and push out until the circle reaches about 13” in diameter.
- Place dough on pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal.
- Use a pastry or silicone brush to brush on garlic butter as evenly as you can over the whole pie, including the crust.
- Sprinkle on sharp cheddar cheese evenly over crust followed by spacing of the Italian beef. You can keep the pieces as big or small as you like. Just remember you'll be cutting the pizza into squares or slices.
- Evenly space ripped fresh mozzarella over the beef. Add a quick drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle the pizza with salt, pepper and parmesan cheese.
- Bake for about 10 minutes or until the crust is cooked and top is charred to your liking. Broil if desired for a touch more char.
- Serve with more parmesan cheese and giardiniera on the side.
Notes
If the pizza dough has been refrigerated, bring to room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
Periodically shake the peel to make sure the pizza readily moves so it'll transfer easily to the stone. Sprinkle cornmeal under any sticky spots while assembling the pizza.
*Other homemade pizza crust options:
-
- Sicilian-style pizza dough: a thicker, bakery-style pizza dough
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- Neapolitan pizza dough: a crisp, pizza dough with puffy pockets.
- Chicago thin crust pizza dough. A tavern style dough.
