Meat-Ze-Pie

Take the concept of pizza, ditch the dough, and use seasoned ground beef as the crust instead. That’s a meat-za pie. The beef mixture gets pressed into a pie plate, spread with tomato paste, and loaded with cheddar, oregano, and Parmesan. It’s essentially a pizza-flavored meatloaf shaped like a pie.

Evaporated milk and bread crumbs mixed into the beef keep the meat crust tender and prevent it from shrinking into a dry hockey puck during baking. The evaporated milk is richer than regular milk and binds everything without making it soggy.

The tomato paste layer acts as your pizza sauce. Its concentrated flavor stands up to the beef better than a thinner sauce would, staying put on the meat without making the surface watery.

Kitchen Tips

• Press the meat evenly into the pie plate and push it slightly up the sides like a real crust. Thin spots will dry out and thick spots stay raw.
• Add pepperoni slices over the tomato paste before the cheese for the full pizza experience.
• Let it rest for 5 minutes after baking. The juices redistribute and it slices much more cleanly.
• Drain any grease that pools during baking before serving.

Variations

• Use mozzarella instead of cheddar for a stretchier, more traditional pizza cheese pull.
• Add sliced mushrooms, diced bell peppers, or sliced olives as toppings before the cheese.
• Swap ground beef for a mix of beef and Italian sausage for a more seasoned crust.