G is for: Garlic Pizza Knots

We recently threw a holiday housewarming party to break in the new digs, and I of course made a boatload of party food.

I made my Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs, Sriracha Shrimp Cocktail, Hummus and veggies, stromboli (which I need to share the recipe for at some point), and garlic knots.

I only made one batch each of the stromboli and garlic knots, and let me just say that they were gone in about five minutes flat. (I’m not exaggerating.)

Justin and I decided we should recreate the garlic knots for the blog, but make them a little extra special. Justin had the idea to stuff meat inside them, and I said why stop there and added cheese as well.

The result… little knots of pizza dough, meat and cheese, that when dipped in warm marinara is a beautiful little miniature pizza present, a perfect gift for the holidays from me to you.

Start with a pound of pizza dough. I opted for the store bought variety, but you could also make some if you are feeling extra ambitious. Cut the ball of dough into 4 even pieces, cover and allow to sit at room temperature for about 60-90 minutes.

For the meat… I used some spicy sopressata, leftover from our trip to the Bronx (which I also need to blog about at a future date.) If you can’t get sopressata, pepperoni is a good choice as well. You can either cut it into small little dices or matchsticks like I did.

Dust a cutting board with flour, and roll out your first ball of dough into a small rectangle (about 8×4″).

Once you have your rectangle, cut it into 6 strips.

(Now, it occurred to me later on, that you could do this process a little differently by first adding all the fillings, then covering with the second piece of rolled out dough, and THEN cutting into strips. It might be a tad easier in retrospect, but that’s not how I did it, so I will show you the method I used.)

Top half of the strips with cheese and meat. Obviously, the more cheese and meat you add, the tastier and cheesier they will be, but it also makes it harder to work with, and form into knots, so just try to find your own balance. If you want, you can also sprinkle them with a little dried oregano or Italian seasoning.

Cover with the remaining, untopped dough strips.

Press all edges together to seal, gently form into a rope, and tie into a knot, tucking the ends underneath. Repeat with the remaining strips and remaining balls of dough, keeping both knots and dough balls covered when you’re not working with them.

I ended up with very small strip for my last one, so I actually rolled it up like a cinnamon roll, and that worked out ok as well. (Just FYI as another option.)

Once you have stuffed and tied all of the knots, brush them with an egg wash.

And sprinkle them with grated Parmesan cheese.

Pop them into the oven on a parchment-lined baking pan and bake until golden brown in a 400 degree oven. Because they are stuffed and because they have more dough, these will take a bit longer than regular garlic knots, so just keep an eye on them. Mine took around 20-25 minutes. (It’s ok if some of the mozzarella cheese leaks out.)

While the knots are baking, make the garlic sauce. Heat 1/4 cup (half a stick) of unsalted butter over medium heat until butter is melted. Add minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute or so. Turn off heat, season with sea salt and mix in freshly chopped parsley.

Once knots are baked to a golden brown, pour or brush garlic butter over the top.

Serve immediately with a side of warm marinara for dipping. (Check out my super easy recipe here.)

Mmmmmmm…. cheesy, sopressata stuffed garlic knots.

Dunk in warm marinara ad enjoy. It’s like a perfect bite of pizza with each one. Great for a party, or just keep all to yourself.