Mini Pizzas

This appetizer recipe is from the 1984 Canadian Living "Merry Christmas Cookbook." The sauce for this is the one I’ve always used for homemade pizzas!

This is the method for the little pizzas I made for this year’s Oscar party (2020). 

The original recipe says to DOUBLE the following recipe to make 48 mini pizzas. I made the recipe as you see it here, and it made 24. However, the sauce and topping part of the recipe would make 48. You can freeze the leftover sauce if you only want to make 24.

Basic pastry

The crust for the appetizers is a “basic pastry”:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup cold unsalted butter

1/3 cup cold lard

3 tbsp cold (ice) water — I used almost six tablespoons, and even at that I had a hard time gathering the dough into a workable amount

In food processor combine flour, salt, butter and lard. Process on and off for a few seconds. Sprinkle in water and process well until soft dough forms, adding another tablespoon if needed.

I don’t have a processor so I make the pastry the traditional way, by mixing flour and salt in a bowl and cutting in with a pastry blender the cold butter and lard (you need to cut up the cold butter and lard into cubes to spread throughout the flour so it mixes a little easier) until mixture resembles small peas. Sprinkle in water and form into a soft dough. It says to “mix well.”  Form it into a ball and press down a bit, then chill while you do the rest.

Sauce:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 large garlic clove, minced

1 small (156 ml) can tomato paste

1 250 ml can tomato sauce

oregano and basil to taste (it says 1 tbsp of each dried)

I usually throw in some crushed chili peppers

salt (up to 1 tsp?) and pepper

Sauté the onion and garlic, add the rest and simmer for 15 minutes. I tend not to put in an onion. Do use the garlic, though!

Toppings:

1 cup finely grated asiago cheese

1 cup finely grated mozzarella

1/3 cup grated parmesan

***NOTE*** — I used a TexMex mix and tried to break up the longer shreds when I made them for the Oscar party. 

1 pound pepperoni, thinly sliced. I use the pepperoni sticks

Putting it together:

On a lightly floured counter, roll out the pastry to 1/4” thickness. With cookie cutter (I used a heart-shaped one) cut into 2-inch circles. Mine were bigger. I think you could use your discretion with how big you want them. You could use a glass to cut the rounds, or maybe free-hand them! The picture that goes with the article has these looking pretty tiny. When you cut them out, you’ll need to gather the scraps, form the dough and roll out again, and keep doing it until you’ve used it all up.

Line baking sheet with parchment and place the pastry rounds on the sheet. Prick each of them all over with a fork (so they don’t sort of bubble) and bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.  I set a timer and took them out even though they weren’t brown.

After they’ve slightly cooled, spoon sauce onto each round, spreading evenly, and not too thick. Put small amount of cheese mixture on each and top with a pepperoni round. 

Bake in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. I took out mine sooner than that. 

Cool and then freeze in a single layer on a baking sheet. When frozen, pack in airtight containers and store in freezer. Do not thaw before baking. To reheat, place frozen mini-pizzas in single layer on baking sheets and bake at 425 for 15 minutes, or until hot.