Mini pizzas with olives, cheese, tomatoes; zeytinli mini pizza
I love the savory pastries, pogaca and little melt-in-the-mouth mini pizzas with various fillings sold in bakeries, firin and patisseries, pastanes, in Turkey. We Turks love them for breakfast as well as for a morning or afternoon snack with cup of tea, cay; such a delicious treat.
Mini pizzas with olives, tomatoes and cheese, freshly baked – delicious!
Recently I made these little pizzas with olives, tomato and cheese topping; they really are easy to make at home and have brought smiles all round!:) A favorite with children, as well and adults, they were a big hit. Mini pizzas are best to be enjoyed straight from the oven, but they also keep well for a few days. The next day (if any left), you can microwave them for 10 – 15 seconds. Or you can sprinkle a little water over them, cover and reheat at 180 C/350 F for 5- 8 minutes. They will be lovely, soft and delicious.
Shaping the mini pizzas; round Turkish tea glass or a mug works well.
Tips: Make sure to deseed the tomatoes before chopping so that it won’t make the filling watery and the pastry soggy. As for the cheese, you can use grated mozzarella, cheddar or crumbled feta cheese. For olives; Turkish, Spanish or Greek Kalamata olives all work well. To shape the mini pizza rounds, I used my tulip shaped glass Turkish tea glass, it worked perfectly. If you don’t have one, any glass or round mold in 7-8 cm diameter would work.
Mini pizzas with olives, cheese and tomatoes, Zeytinli mini pizza, ready to eat!
I hope you enjoy these delicious mini pizzas with olives, cheese and tomatoes – Afiyet Olsun;
Ozlem
- 375 gr/ 3 cups all-purpose plain flour
- 7gr dry yeast (1 sachet)
- 5 ml/ 1 tsp. salt
- 10 ml/ 2 tsp. sugar
- 240 ml / 8 fl. oz. / 1 cup warm milk
- 15 ml/ 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 50 gr / 2 oz. butter, melted
- For the filling:
- 3 small tomatoes, deseeded and finely chopped
- Handful - about 15- green and black olives, roughly chopped
- 200 gr / 7 oz. / 2 cups grated mozzarella or cheddar cheese
- 15 ml / 1 tbsp. olive oil
- For the topping:
- 1 egg, beaten
- Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F
- Combine the warm milk, sugar and dry yeast in a small bowl and mix well. Let it stand for 5 minutes so that it gets foamy.
- Stir in the flour and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the middle.
- Add the melted butter and slowly pour in the milk & yeast mixture.
- Knead well with your hands for a few minutes, until the dough comes together. Have a drizzle (about 1 tbsp.) of olive oil in your hands if the dough gets too sticky; knead and shape the dough like a ball.
- Place the dough in the large bowl and cover with a cling film and a tea towel. Let it rise in a warm place for 45-60 minutes or until doubled in size.
- Prepare the filling while the dough is rising. Deseed the tomatoes and olives and chop finely. Place them in a medium sized bowl and stir in the grated cheese and olive oil. Combine and mix well. Set the filling aside.
- Once the dough has risen, punch down and divide 3 equal pieces and roll into balls.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out each of the ball of dough with a rolling pin into thin flat rounds in ⅓ cm (0.14”) width. Using a round mold or round glass of 8 cm/3” in diameter, cut the flat dough into circles. Repeat until all the dough is used.
- Line baking parchment paper on your baking tray and place the dough circles on it. Using your finger, make a little dent in the middle of each dough circle.
- Place a dessert spoonful of filling in each dough circle (in and around the dent).
- Brush the pastries with the beaten egg and bake in the preheated oven (180 C/ 350 F) for 15 minutes or until golden around the edges.
- Serve hot immediately. This recipe makes 35 mini pizzas; afiyet olsun!
