Pizzerita – not quite a pizza, not quite a tart, definitely savoury

If this keeps up, am I going to start every post by explaining why I’ve been away so long? Maybe not. It’s summer holiday time. A person can take a little break from blogging, especially with the World Cup on and all. And there’s been plenty else to do. Some of it, unfortunately, more important than cooking. Forgive me.

It’s true I haven’t cooked all that much lately, either. And when I did cook, I didn’t have time to write it up for the blog. Today I finally got myself to sit down and do it, and voilà! There might even be several posts in one go (because whenever I did cook, I always took a quick photo).

I’ve really taken to that Italian flour with yeast already mixed in. Ever since I introduced it in my post on pizza, I’ve used it quite often (well, a few times now). As so often happens in my kitchen, the recipe below was a spur-of-the-moment idea. Actually, it was hunger.

And I don’t mean feeling a bit peckish. Unfortunately, when I’m hungry, I’m always ravenous. I don’t understand the idea of being “a little hungry” at all. Hungry is hungry. You want to stuff your face. Unfortunately, it usually turns up right on cue, and almost always after 18.00. Are you like that too?

Then you know exactly what I mean.

A little peckish in the evening? RUBBISH! It’s like “a small beer”. When did you last have “a small beer”?

I hope you get what I mean 🙂

Pizzerita. Funny, I don’t think even the Italians have come up with that one. Hmm… When I type “pizzerita” into Google, it gives me results for pizza, as if I’d got it wrong. So there you go, I invented the pizzerita. What is it? A bit like a pizza, a bit like a tartlet. Basically, it’s a snack made with Italian pizza dough (using flour meant for the job), shaped like a tartlet and filled with whatever I had in the house. No sauce. Just olive oil, fresh tomatoes and a little cheese. It’s well worth making yourself one as a treat, especially in the evening. I bet it goes beautifully with wine, though sadly I haven’t tested that theory. As ever, I recommend it.

At a glance: 

Prep time: 10 minutes

Baking time: 15–20 minutes

Oven temperature: 210 degrees Celsius

Serves: one

Calories: don’t ask

Ingredients for a really good snack:

• about 80 g of Italian pizza and focaccia flour with yeast already mixed in (photo below)
• half a tablespoon of olive oil
• about 70 ml of water
• a pinch of salt
• 1 small piece (about 4 cm) of courgette
• 1 raspberry tomato (medium)
• a small piece of aubergine
• 1 slice of Emmental
• 1 slice of dry-cured ham
• dried basil
• dried rosemary

The recipe (quick and easy):

I started by setting the oven to 210 degrees Celsius. It needs to be hot when the dish goes in.

I mixed the flour, a pinch of salt, the water and a scant tablespoon of olive oil in a bowl. Once everything came together, I quickly kneaded the dough. It should be like pizza dough, only a little firmer. It still needs to be smooth and elastic. I didn’t leave it to rise. I shaped it straight away into something like a tartlet shell. You can see it clearly in the photos below.

I washed the tomato and diced it on a paper towel laid on the chopping board, so that much of the juice and seeds would stay on the paper. I finely diced the courgette and aubergine. I tore the slice of cold meat (dry-cured ham in my case) into little pieces and did the same with the slice of cheese.

I sprinkled dried rosemary over the base of my little pizzerita (no idea why my fresh rosemary didn’t grow in the garden this year) and brushed it with olive oil, as you can see in the photo below. I filled it with the aubergine, courgette and ham I’d prepared, in that order. Over the top went the tomato mixed with the cheese.

I put it in the oven and baked it for about 15–20 minutes. The cheese should melt without the dough burning. I cut the finished pizzerita into quarters. All done. Enjoy!