The puff pastry mini pizzas aka pizzette sfoglia are typical of Sardinia. They are savoury pastries made with flaky puff pastry and filled with tomato passata, capers and anchovies. Simple ingredients for a super tasty snack.
We usually eat them at parties or in the morning when we have breakfast at the bar (Italian version of cafes) with a cappuccino.
The recipe is pretty easy but there are few rules to follow to have a perfect result. Firstly you need to use a good puff pastry. Of course homemade pastry would be the best solution but, if you can’t make it, try to buy good quality all butter puff pastry. Then you have to handle the pastry in a very gentle way: do not knead or squeeze together the pastry’s scraps but just put one scrap on each other and roll them again gently. Do not use loads of flour to roll the pastry out otherwise you will alter it. Observe the resting time: never bake the puff pastry straight away after shaping it. These rules apply for any puff pastry recipe, follow them and your puff pastry will be well cooked, flaky and light. Trust me! 🙂
Last but not least, when you brush the pizzette with the egg wash try to brush only the top of them: egg acts like a sealant and if you brush it on the side of the pizzette they won’t puff up because the egg will seal the 2 discs of pastry together.
All these rules may seem a lot for a simple recipe like this but they really make the difference.
The puff pastry pizzette are perfect for parties. You can prepare them in advance and freeze the pizzette on the baking trays after the resting time. Once they are frozen (it takes about half an hour) put them in a freezer bag or in an airtight container and keep them in the freezer. When you want to use them just put them again on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, brush with egg wash and bake like they were freshly made.
Puff pastry mini pizzas - pizzette sfoglia
Ingredients
- puff pastry: 1 roll
- tomato passata: 150 grams
- capers: 12
- anchovies in oil cut into small pieces: 3-4
- salt to taste
- eggs: 1
Instructions
- Put the passata in a small bowl and season with salt to taste. Set aside.
- Roll out the puff pastry on a slightly floured surface and cut out 24 discs using a round cookie cutter of about 6 cm of diameter. Since a puff pastry roll is not usually bigger than 22 cm x 30 cm you will need to put together all the scraps and roll the pastry again. Be careful when you put together the puff pastry because it is very delicate; if you work it too much it won't puff and it will be very greasy. Remember also to roll it out to no less then 5 mm thickness because it has to be thick not thin like in other recipes.
- Put half of the discs on a baking tray lined with parchment paper leaving about 1,5 cm between each disc. Keep the other discs on the table.
- Place about a teaspoon of tomato passata in the centre of each disc leaving the edges clean. Put a caper and a piece of anchovies on the passata.
- Use the remaining discs to close the pizzette putting them on top of the passata.
- Now take a round cookie cutter about 1 cm smaller than the one you used for cutting the pastry discs, flour slight the back of it and use ti to press gently the disc on the top to seal each pizzas.
- Cover the pizzette with cling film and let them rest in the fridge for at least half an hour. *
- Preheat the oven to 200°C. Brush each pizzetta with the egg slightly beaten and bake in the preheated oven for about 12/15 minutes or until golden and puffed.
Notes
*At this stage, after the resting time, you can freeze the pizzette leaving them on the trays. Once they are completely frozen you can store them in an airtight container in the freezer.
