O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree, how pretty are thy cheese pulls! Right here, we mixed mozzarella and our basic pizza dough right into a enjoyable, festive appetizer. Formed like a Christmas tree (full with a star on high) and coated in garlicky herb butter, these tacky, stuffed dough balls are good for any vacation appetizer unfold. Served with a brilliant pink facet of heat pizza sauce, this dish wears the colours of the season nicely and can delight children and adults alike.
This recipe is designed to be straightforward — and you may sub in store-bought dough to make it even less complicated — however there may be one tasty complication: cheese leakage. Some may argue that is truly the very best half, nevertheless it’s straightforward sufficient to keep away from if you happen to should: Simply make sure to fold your dough balls rigorously. We do that by pinching collectively just a few seams and making 4 folds of dough over the cheese earlier than rolling every bit right into a ball. If the cheese nonetheless finds its manner out of the dough pocket, don’t fear: Simply christen it as a “snowy” Christmas tree and benefit from the caramelized edges!
TIME
1 hour
YIELD
21-25 stuffed dough balls
(serves 6-8)
Tools
massive baking sheet pan (max. 9 x 13”)
Silpat baking mat (to line the sheet and stop burning)
3” cookie cutter or tumbler
rolling pin
Ooni pizza oven
Ooni Infrared Thermometer
Ooni Perforated Pizza Peel
Ooni Pizza Oven Gloves
pastry brush
Components
28 ounces (800 grams) Classic Pizza Dough
7 ounces (200 grams) Classic Pizza Sauce
9 ounces (250 grams) mozzarella, chopped into 1” cubes
5 ounces (150 grams) butter, melted
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 tablespoons (12 grams) contemporary parsley, finely chopped
3 tablespoons (18 grams) rosemary, finely chopped
Technique
Put together the dough forward of time. Our information to creating the right basic pizza dough covers every little thing you should know. (Although for this dish, it’s not essential to ball your dough.) Simply observe the Classic Pizza Dough recipe up till the majority proofing step, because you’ll want plenty of proofed dough that’s able to roll out, reduce and form into balls.
Hearth up your oven. Purpose for 480°F (250˚C) on the stone baking board inside. (You possibly can examine the temperature inside your oven rapidly and simply utilizing an infrared thermometer.)
Unfold a tablespoon of melted butter over the floor of your baking pan. 
Subsequent, calmly flour your work floor. Utilizing a rolling pin, flatten the pizza dough to about half an inch thick. 
Use a cookie cutter to punch 21-25 circles from the dough, reserving some dough scraps to make the star on high of your tree.
Working separately, place a cheese dice within the heart of every circle and pinch the perimeters of the dough collectively to seal.
Roll the dough between your palms, as if you happen to had been forming a meatball. Repeat with every dough circle.
Place the balls on the baking sheet within the form of a Christmas tree. Utilizing a knife, reduce a star from the reserved dough.
Tip: We made our star freehand, however you need to use a star-shaped cookie cutter or stencil to make it simpler and neater (and even simply use a small dough ball because the “star”).
Place the sheet inside your oven and bake for about 10 minutes, or till the dough balls are overrated and golden throughout. You’ll want to rotate the tray each 3-5 minutes to make sure the balls cook dinner evenly and stop them from burning.
In a bowl, combine the garlic and herbs with the remaining melted butter.
Take away the tray and brush the dough balls with garlic-herb butter.
Serve sizzling, together with a bowl of heat pizza sauce for dipping.
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