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Pizzettes. They’re just tiny pizzas.

But they’re tiny for a reason.

That reason is simple. People love pizza. Be it take-out, homemade, served at the greatest pizzeria in town or even frozen, we all love it.

It can be in the style of a chewy New York “pie” or deep dish from Chicago. Rustic or elegant. Heaped with traditional ingredients like mozzarella and sausage, or veering into new territory– thin, charred and delicately drizzled with truffle oil. This way, that way– here, there and everywhere, pizza is a worldwide favorite.

The earliest versions of pizza were probably simple flatbreads baked hot and fast with garlic and pork fat. Once tomatoes hit the shores of the old world, pizza matured into the tomato and cheese topped version with the queenly name of Margherita. It’s often considered the standard bearer. But it’s not the only way to go, pizza has been reinvented countless times and continues to evolve everyday.

So if people love pizza so much why are you looking at something I’m calling pizzettes? Well, because in my opinion really good pizza is really hard to make at home. The problems are many, but I’ll start with the dough.

The dough at the very best pizzerias has a yeasty, fermented quality that’s hard to reproduce at home. That’s because they often start the dough making process with a yeast and flour mixture known as a “sponge”. Typically that ”sponge” has been allowed to ferment for a period of time, producing superior flavor and texture. Which may seem like a game ender, but there are ways to solve this problem. I find that less involved doughs like the Easy Flatbread Dough I use in these pizzettes, and even good quality store-bought dough can develop a similar slightly fermented taste if the finished dough is allowed to sit at room temperature a couple of hours before the pie preparation begins.

Problem solved? Well partly. Even with good dough, pizza can still be disappointing when made at home. That’s because most kitchens are just not equipped with an oven hot enough or smoky enough to produce really good pizza. Pizza stones are designed to help– and they do, but just somewhat. I have seen people line their ovens with bricks, which is very clever, but altogether too much work for me.

The solution (for me) are these pizzettes. I think that smaller flatbread versions of pizza are much easier to handle at home. I promise you, pizza stone or not, you’ll be pleased with these little pies and their chewy, slightly charred crusts. I made my pizzettes with garlic and rosemary, but you can top them any which way you like. They’re your pizzettes. GREG

Expand Recipe…

Garlic & Rosemary Pizzettes 

By: Greg Henry

Print This Recipe Total time 45 minutes Yield 16Published May 21, 2013

The dough in this recipe is from my book, Savory Pies and can be found here: http://​www​.sippitysup​.com/​r​e​c​i​p​e​/​e​a​s​y​-​f​l​a​t​b​r​e​a​d​-​d​o​u​gh/

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon olive oil plus more for drizzling
• 4 clove garlic peeled and minced
• 1 pound Easy Flatbread Dough or store-bought pizza dough (see notes)
• Corn meal as needed
• 6 ounce mozzarella cheese well chilled then grated
• 1 tablespoon minced rosemary plus more as garnish
• 1 ounce finely grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 clove garlic peeled and thinly sliced, as garnish
• Extra-virgin olive oil as needed for drizzling

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Directions

Place oven rack in top position. Place a pizza stone on the rack if you like. Heat oven to 500 or more degrees F.

Heat olive oil in a small saucepan set over medium-high heat. Add minced garlic and cook swirling the pan often until garlic is sizzling and just beginning to color, about 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat and set garlic aside to cool while still in the oil.

Divide dough into 16 ping-pong (or slightly smaller) sized balls. Flatten or roll each ball into a thin disc about 3 ½‑inches in diameter. Lay them onto a parchment-lined baking sheet lightly dusted with cornmeal. Don’t crowd them, you may need to use two baking sheets. Let rest at room temperature at least 20 minutes before proceeding.

If dough discs have retracted after they have rested use your fingertips to return them to about 3 ½‑inches in diameter. Brush each one with a little of the cooled garlic & olive oil mixture, getting plenty of crunchy garlic bits onto each disc. Divide mozzarella evenly on top of each; followed by minced rosemary and Parmesan cheese.

Garnish with 2 or 3 slices of garlic, a tiny sprig of rosemary and a small drizzle of olive oil per pizzette,

Bake pizzettes in the very hot oven 6 to 8 minutes, or until crusts are golden and crisp with cheese getting slightly charred. Watch them carefully as they can go from charred to burnt quickly. Serve hot.