Capo's Pizza

Hi! I’m Tony Capo Jr. and I’d like to share with you the story behind our Artichoke and Meatball pizza. You may not be familiar with the union of artichoke and meatball, it’s a combination that’s been a tradition in the Capo Family for decades. On weekends my father would take my brothers and I to visit our Grandma Capo. Usually we’d visit to talk about the Browns, or the Indians (she LOVED Jim Thome.) But sometimes, when we were really lucky, she’d be cooking! One of our favorites, which we haven’t been able to reproduce (she didn’t share recipes) were her stuffed artichokes. My grandmother’s stuffed artichokes were to die for, stuffed with meatball they were a delicacy in our home. Usually she would make one for each of us, and the trick was making it last as long as possible. You could pluck each leaf and dip it in her spaghetti sauce, then you’d use your front teeth to scrape out the fleshy part of the artichoke leaf. Same would go for the meat, pluck some out from between the leaves, dip into the sauce, repeat… There was no better Sunday meal. So this inspired me to come up with our Artichoke and Meatball pizza, its made with our Ma Capo’s spaghetti sauce and topped with artichoke hearts, mozzarella, and meatball. The picture I have here is an alternative version made with San Marzano tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella rather than shredded mozzarella on a thin crust. Both are delicious but if you want an experience that will express what I had as a kid go with the Menu version.