For a my first pin test I decided to try a pizza braid. It looks relatively easy and inexpensive to make.
Here is one of the original pins the inspired me to make this.
Sometimes I follow the recipe to the letter and sometimes I like to wing it! I add things or omit ingredients depending on what I have in the kitchen. In this case, I started with a bagged Fresh Pizza Dough that I found at the grocery store. The original recipe called for Rhode's Bread Dough. However, I don't really have hours to thaw and rise the bread dough. So, I used this because it was ready to go.
Next, you roll out the dough into a long rectangle. I did my best since I don't have a rolling pin in the house. I used a heavy drinking glass that I had. That really wasn't working all that great so I just started pounding it into shape with my hands. This is what it looked like once I got it onto the baking sheet.
After I got it on the baking sheet I used a pizza cutter to cut the strips on the side that make up the braid later. Here is how that looked....
Ok so, finally to the fun part. I started layering on the pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese and pepperoni. I used Hormel Mini Pepperoni. Cause they are just funner!
On the original pin they also layer on some ground beef. I didn't do that because I didn't feel like going through the trouble of browning and draining the ground beef. But, I did have a light bulb moment and remembered that I have some Italian-style meatballs in the freezer. They only take about 2 minutes to cook in the microwave. When they were done I cut them in half and layered them on.
Then some more cheese and it was time for braiding.
This part was a little harder then it looked on Pinterest. My dough had gotten a little warm I guess and it was super stretchy and as you can see there are few gaps in between braids.I had a hard time getting it to fully cover the filling.
Here it is before I put it in the oven.
And here it is after it came out of the oven. As you can see some of the cheese cooked out of it. At this point I thought it didn't really look all that great and I just hoped it was edible.
Once I finally removed it from the supposedly non-stick baking sheet. It actually didn't look that bad. The kids didn't care what it looked like. It was pizza and they were hungry! It wasn't perfect but it was delicious! Everyone loved it! I wish I could have gotten a second piece but it was GONE. Overall, I think this was a great Pintest it! experience. I think with a little practice I could make a pretty pizza braid just like the original.
Pintest it! Pizza Braid with Meatballs
