Pizzette with Meat, Veggie and Vegan Toppings

Small enough to hold in one hand, pizzette make fantastic finger food for any party. Make a batch of these small pizzas and add a variety of toppings to cater for all tastes and dietary requirements. There's meaty, veggie and vegan pizzetta options included here.

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Pizzette are small pizzas that can range in size from a snack-sized, hand-held 3-inch pizza to a larger individual-sized pie. I've gone with the snacking option here.

These mini pizzas have obvious appeal for parties, as they are ideal finger food. Of course, one batch can be topped in various ways to offer variety and cater for different dietary requirements. In the recipe card I've included ingredients for vegetarian and vegan pizzette along with a meaty one too.

Oh and by the way, a pizzetta is one small pizza. Pizzette is the plural. On this basis, and I could be wrong, I don't think pizzettas or pizzettes are true words.

Why Make these Small Pizzas

There are so many reasons to make these pizzette:

• They are fun and cute
• With a delicious crispy base
• And they can be made in advance
• They can be served hot or cold
• And they are easy to tailor to multiple dietary requirements
• They feed a crowd - expect to make around 18 small pizzas

Of course, the ingredients listed in the recipe card can also be used to make 6 larger servings if you would sooner serve an individual pizzetta to each diner.

Make this pizzette recipe with the pizza dough listed in the recipe card, try my beer pizza dough, use store-bought dough or, for an alternative, use puff-pastry as the base (use 1½ x this pastry recipe).

Ingredients

Use strong white bread flour when making pizza dough. It has a higher level of protein than plain (all-purpose) flour, which means the gluten content is also higher. This in turn gives the dough a stretchy quality, so it can be manipulated into a thin pizza base and it is less likely to tear.

Salt is essential in both the base and the tomato sauce in this pizzette rcipe. Reduce it by half if you are watching your sodium intake, but don't leave it out altogether.

I've used Doves Farm Quick Yeast which is instant dried yeast. It does not need to bloom in water before using. Instead, it is activated when mixed directly into the flour and liquid. Only one kneading and one rising is required with this type of yeast. All-in-all, it's a very easy yeast to use. If you are experienced with fresh yeast, try using 10g in place of the quick yeast.

In the image above I've grouped topping ingredients under the heading of meaty, veggie and vegan. These are purely ideas for ways to top your pizzette, but you do not have to follow them rigidly. Go with your own ideas if you fancy something different or even let diners assemble their own pizzetta (kids, in particular, love this).

Step By Step Instructions

If you are new to making any kind of pizza take a look at my in-depth guide to shaping and cooking pizza dough. It's packed with useful information and tips that will come in handy when making this recipe.

There are several stages to making these small pizzas:

• Make the dough
• Prepare toppings
• Roll, top and bake

Make the Dough

1. Put the flour into a mixing bowl then add the salt to one side and the yeast to the other. Pour ¾ of the water into the bowl

2. Use a wooden spoon to mix the ingredients together, adding more water as necessary until a soft dough forms that incorporates all of the flour

3. Knead (either by hand or in a machine) for 5-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Place in a medium/ large bowl that has been greased with a little oil. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rise for 60-90 minutes, or until doubled in size

Prepare Toppings

The exact requirements here will depend on the toppings of your choice. However, the majority of small pizzas do require a base of tomato sauce:

1. Pour the tomatoes into a bowl along with the salt, oregano and oil
2. Use your hand to squash the tomatoes until they break down and all other ingredients are mixed in

Here are further instructions for the 3 toppings included in the recipe card:

Proscuitto, Jalapeño & Parmesan

1. Rip the proscuitto into strips
2. Drain the jalapeño chillis from the brine and dice or cut into pieces
3. Finely grate the cheese

Spinach, Artichoke & Blue Cheese

1. Melt a small knob of butter in a pan, add the spinach and stir until just wilted. Remove from the pan and lay on kitchen towel to cool and drain
2. Drain the artichoke from any preserving oil and chop roughly
3. Dice the blue cheese

Roasted Tomato, Basil & Greek Cheese

1. Cut the cherry tomatoes into quarters, toss in a little oil and lay on baking parchment. Season and bake for 25 minutes
2. Cut the cheese into cubes
3. Remove the basil leaves from the stems

Prepare any other pizzette toppings of choice in a similar fashion.

Once ready, all toppings should be covered and chilled until required.

Roll, Top and Bake

The oven should be preheated with 2 pizza stones or baking sheets inside of it

1. When the dough has risen, knock it back, fold the dough over itself a few times, shape into a ball and cut up:

• for 18 small pizzas divide the dough into 45g pieces
• for 6 individual pizzetta servings divide the dough into 140g pieces

Cover the pieces of dough with a clean tea towel to prevent them drying out

Tip: It's best to work in batches to avoid the dough sticking to worktops or drying out once rolled. I typically prepare 6 mini pizzas at a time.

2. Take 6 pieces of dough and, on a floured worktop, roll out/ hand-stretch each piece to approx 3-inches (or if making 6 larger pizzas roll out 1 piece of dough to around 7-8 inches)

3. Scatter coarse semolina onto a cold baking sheet and lay 3 of the prepared pizzette bases on the longer edge of it (as pictured). Add a teaspoon of tomato sauce then scatter the toppings of your choice over the bases (do not add items such as the basil or any vegan cheese that will perish in the oven)

4. Open the oven, scatter semolina over the pre-heated baking sheet and slide the prepared pizzette off of the cold baking sheet onto it. Quickly load the remaining 3 bases onto the cold baking sheet, add the toppings and slide into the oven too. Allow them to cook for 5-6 minutes

5. Prepare the next 6 pieces of dough in the same fashion and get them into the oven as fast as possible

6. Finally, work on the last 6 pieces of dough in the same way and get them into the oven once there is space

7. Once baked add any no-bake toppings (basil leaves and the vegan Greek cheese) and serve

And don't forget that you can create your own flavours too - whatever works on a standard pizza will work on a pizzetta too.

Expert Tips

• While the dough is proving prepare all your toppings
• Turn your oven to 275C/ 525F or as close to this temperature a possible - the aim is to cook the small pizzas very quicky to produce a crisp base
• To ensure a crisp base, ideally use a pizza stone to cook the pizzette (this recipe makes eighteen 3-inch pizzette so cook in batches as necessary)
• If you do not own a pizza stone, simply place a baking sheet in the oven as it warms up. Slide the mini pizzas onto this hot baking sheet when they are ready to cook (it gives a far better result than using a cold baking sheet)
• Keep the first batch of pizzette warm in a top oven if you have one or by covering with foil (if they do cool just pop back into the oven for 1-2 minutes when ready to serve)
• If using vegan cheese keep in mind that not all is suitable for cooking. Although some are melty cheeses, others (like the Greek-style cheese shown here) do not like oven-heat but can be scattered on a pizzetta once it is out of the oven
• Remember to keep meat, vegetarian and vegan ingredients seperate if catering for special dietary requirements. In this instance, it's a good idea to cook the vegan pizzette first, followed by the vegetarian then the meat to avoid cross contamination

Frequently Asked Questions

Other Ways to Top a Pizzetta

Pizzette are fun to put out at informal parties and because they are designed for individual consumption, a variety of toppings can be used to cater for meat-lovers, vegetarians, vegans and even pescatarians.

I've included 3 ideas in the recipe card, but here are a few more ways to top these mini pizzas:

• Ham and mushroom (meaty)
• Smoked salmon & avocado pizza (pescatarian)
• Roasted vegetable and pesto pizza (vegetarian)
• Pumpkin pizza with chickpeas and rocket (vegan)
• Prawn, chilli & rocket (pescatarian)
• Pepperoni, slow roasted tomatoes and mozzerella (meaty)
• Goats cheese, roasted red pepper and black olive (vegetarian)
• Caramelised mushroom pizza (vegan)
• Crab & mozzarella pizza (pescatarian)

More Italian Recipes to Try:

Have you tried this mini pizza recipe? Please give it a rating or leave a comment - I love to hear how you get along with my creations. And if you're on Instagram post a picture of your favourite pizzetta and tag me (@jane_littlesugarsnaps). I want to see how you topped your pizzette!

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