Step 1

Cut each one-pound bread dough in half to make four 8-ounce pieces. Roll each into a ball and flatten into a circle on a well-floured counter. The dough will take some time to relax so keep pressing into a circle, let it relax and press again until each dough ball is eight inches across. Cover with a dish towel until later.

Step 2

If making the Alfredo sauce from scratch, melt butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat and add cream, nutmeg, mustard, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Stir and heat and once heated, stir in the Parmesan cheese. Heat to melt the cheese and set aside off heat. The sauce can be made a day ahead.

Step 3

If making the meatballs from scratch, heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Step 4

In a medium bowl place milk and bread, pressing the bread into the milk. Let this set while you prepare the other ingredients.

Step 5

In a medium to large bowl place the ground beef, the egg, ricotta, onion, Parmesan, parsley, nutmeg, salt, pepper and mozzarella.

Step 6

Squeeze all milk out of the bread with your hands and add the bread to the beef mixture. Discard milk.

Step 7

Mix the meatball mixture until combined. Use a one-ounce scoop and scoop out all of the mixture onto your counter or cutting board.

Step 8

Line a sheet tray with parchment paper and drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil onto the parchment. Pick up each meatball and pull apart into two, giving you two half-ounce meatballs. Will yield about 32-36 half-ounce meatballs.

Step 9

Roll each into a ball using your palms and line up on the tray. Then drizzle two more tablespoons of oil over the top and bake for 15 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from oven and set aside.

Step 10

If making the Italian tomato sauce from scratch, follow recipe here. Set aside.

Step 11

Once the bread dough has softened and stretched to an eight-inch circle, dust off all flour and place back onto a flour free counter.

Step 12

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Step 13

We used a metal mixing bowl to bake our dough into a bowl. The bowl was 7” wide at top, 3” wide at bottom and 4” deep. You can use any bowl, ceramic or metal as long as it is oven safe. You can also use a bowl with dimensions slightly different than ours. The trick is to find an oven safe bowl that will hold the dough in place while it bakes with a finished opening no wider than 7”.

Step 14

Place the bowl on a foil lined sheet tray upside down and place in the preheated oven to heat.

Step 15

Use olive oil and brush a ring of oil around the dough leaving about 3” in the center. Repeat for the remaining three doughs. Divid one cup of the Parmesan cheese over each oil ring, pressing into the oil.

Step 16

Open the oven door and brush the bowl with the olive oil and then quickly place one 8” prepared dough over the bowl, cheese face up. If you have more than one bowl, bake as many at once as you want. If just one bowl, then repeat process until all four doughs are baked.

Step 17

Bake for five minutes then rotate pan and bake for five more minutes. At this point, the outside should be nice and golden brown. Open oven door and slide rack out. Using a dish towel or mitts, lift off cooked dough bowl and stand upright on a cooling rack to cool. Brush more oil on the bowl and continue until all four are baked. Set these aside and turn off the oven.

Step 18

In a medium pan, brown sausage and ground beef, breaking up pieces as you cook. Once browned, add all of the tomato sauce and keep warm.

Step 19

Warm the Alfredo sauce. If made ahead, the butter fat will separate. Just whisk as you heat and it will come together and stabilize.

Step 20

Place the meatballs in a sauce pan with a little water and heat.

Step 21

To serve, lay out the four pizza-bowls on serving plates and divided the hot Alfredo sauce between the four.

Step 22

Next divide the shredded Fontina over the Alfredo.

Step 23

Next place half of the meat sauce over the Fontina.

Step 24

Next place half of the meatballs over the meat sauce.

Step 25

Next divide the shredded mozzarella over the meatballs.

Step 26

Next divide the remaining meat sauce over the mozzarella.

Step 27

Finally divide the remaining meatballs over the meat sauce and sprinkle the tops with the remaining cup of Parmesan cheese.

Step 28

Serve with lots of napkins.