Thursday, March 29, 2012

Mini Pizza Trio

Mini pizzas! Who doesn't love them? I remember as a child eating mini pizzas on English muffins and while that satisfied my 7 year old appetite, these days I prefer fresh dough. Prepare it yourself or pick some up from your local pizzeria for an even easier and still fresh finished product.
Each of these pizzas can easily be made as whole, sharing pies. Just up the amount of vegetables to your liking. These would also be great to grill on a barbecue outside!

Three different types of mini pizzas made from one ball of dough: Eggplant & Broccolini, Potato, Garlic, Rosemary and Olive oil and Roasted Mushroom with Spring Onions and Kale.

Mini Pizza Trio
makes 6 mini pizzas, 2 of each flavor

dough and sauce
1 ball fresh pizza dough
1 tbl extra virgin olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tbl dried rosemary
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1-15oz crushed tomatoes
1 ball fresh pizza dough

Saute the onion in olive oil for 3-4 minutes until it starts to soften. Add the garlic, rosemary, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Cook 3 minutes more until the garlic has toasted. Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for 30 minutes.
Set aside 1/3 of the  chunky sauce for the Eggplant & Broccolini Pizza.
Transfer the remaining sauce to a blender and blend until smooth.

Preheat the oven to 450.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature under a cloth for 15 minutes. Divide into 6 small balls and press out into circles on a floured surface. Let sit for 10 minutes. Prepare two greased baking sheets. Press each circle out again to desired size and place on the baking sheet.
Drizzle 2 pizzas with olive oil for the Potato Bianco. Sauce 2 pizzas with the reserved chunky sauce and the remaining two with the smooth sauce.
Top 2 pizzas with each of the three toppings. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the dough has cooked through.

Eggplant & Broccolini
1/4 cup small diced japanese eggplant
1/4 cup small diced zucchini
2 sprigs broccolini
2 tbl chili oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

Combine all of the ingredients and marinate for 30 minutes. Layer over chunky pizza sauce and bake.

Roasted Mushroom & Spring Onion with Kale
4 shiitake mushrooms, halved
2 spring onions or scallions
1 tbl plus 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
black pepper
1 cup raw kale leaves, roughly chopped
1/2 cup baby arugula leaves

Preheat the oven to 425.
Toss the mushrooms and spring onion tips with 1 tbl oil and pepper. Roast for 10 minutes.
Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the kale leaves for 3 minutes then shock in cold water to stop the cooking. Drain and toss with 1 tsp of olive oil.
Layer the kale on top of the smooth sauce, top with mushrooms and spring onions. Sprinkle with a little bit of salt. Top with arugula after the pizza has cooked.

Potato Bianco
1 medium sized yukon
2 tbl extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves. minced
1 tbl dried rosemary, crumbled
coarse sea salt

Par boil the potato in salted water for 5 minutes. Once cool enough to touch, slice thinly.
Brush 2 pizzas with 1 tbl olive oil and top with potato slices, garlic and rosemary. Drizzle the top with the remaining oil and sprinkle with coarse salt.

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