If you’ve been keeping up with my artizone posts, the site will launch next month!  Which means, you have only about two more weeks until you’ll be able to have the best artisan products in the city delivered to your front door.  This week I am featuring Flavors from Afar and FM 1410 — two well known names in Dallas.

At Flavors from Afar, the adventuresome duo Nancy and Gary  carries the best  artisan products imported from Italy.  You are able to taste a little part of Italy through the culinary gems that Flavors from Afar has to offer — like the fragrant olive oils of Tuscany or the bold and fruity balsamic vinegars from Modena. Flavors From Afar offers products that makes entertaining elegant and simple – as the Italians would say: Buon Appetito!!

The top chefs of Dallas know Tom well for his fresh herbs and produce.  With a beautiful garden tucked away in the middle of downtown, the treasures from Tom’s garden will redefine anyone’s definition of “fresh”. At FM 1410 it truly is a farm to table experience — full of flavor, life and most importantly, love.

With the combination of these artisan powers I created these wonderful mini pizzettes — Bacon & Caramelized Onion with Arugula, Basil and Almond Pesto with Red Pepper and Thyme Lobster Mushroom drizzled with Balsamic.  These pizzettes would make a great appetizer or a wonderful afternoon snack.  Not to mention they are also quite healthy (except for the bacon..O_o) and dairy-free!

Ingredients for Mini Pizzettes: (serves 8-10)

  • 12 ounces pizza dough (You can find my pizza dough recipe here or buy storebought dough)

Preheat the oven to 475 F.  Roll out the pizza dough into a 1/4-inch-thick round.  Using a 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 inch diameter cookie cutter, cut out 30 dough circles.  Arrange the circles on 2 large heavy baking sheets (make sure you put semolina on the bottom of the pan to keep the dough from sticking).

Basil Pesto

  • 3 cups Basil leaves, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cup toasted almonds
  • 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup high quality Olive Oil (I used Ariston from Flavors from Afar)
  • 1/2 tsp of salt

Process the garlic, basil and almonds in a food processor.  Pulse until all ingredients are thoroughly chopped, scrapping down the sides as neccessary.  While running the processor, slowly pour in the 1/2 cup olive oil until it reaches the right consistency, you can add more olive oil as needed.  Set aside.

 

Thyme Lobster Mushroom

  • 8 oz Lobster Mushroom, thinly sliced (you can find these at FM 1410)
  • 1 Tb butter
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 2 oz Madeira or a sweet cooking wine
  • 2 oz fresh thyme, chopped
  • 2 oz high quality Balsamic vinegar (you can find these at Flavors from Afar)
  • salt pepper to taste

Heat a large saucepan on medium high heat and melt the butter til it’s bubbling.  Add in the garlic, shallot and sliced mushrooms and sautee until softened, about 3-4 minutes.  Add in the wine and thyme and cook until liquid is soaked up, taste with salt and pepper.  Set aside.

Carmelized Onion & Bacon

  • 6 oz bacon, chopped
  • 1/2 white onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 tsp honey
  • 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 cup fresh arugula
  • salt pepper to taste

Heat a large pan on medium high heat add the bacon and cook for 1 minute.  Add the sliced onions and reduce heat to medium.  Caramelize the onions with the bacon, about 8 minutes.   Add the honey and apple cider vinegar and cook until liquid is reduced, add salt pepper to taste.  Set aside

To assemble pizzas

Using the three toppings you’ve made, place them on the pizza dough rounds (about 1 tsp for each).  Bake until the pizzettes are golden brown, about 10 minutes.  Drizzle the pizzettes with olive oil.  For the Bacon Onion and Arugula, simply add some fresh arugula on top and serve.  For the Thyme Lobster Mushroom, drizzle some balsamic vinegar on top and serve.  For the Basil Almond Pesto, add the sliced red pepper and fresh basil leaves for garnish and serve.

10 Comments

  1. Elissa says: 27 Oct ’10 • 09:39:01

    You said dairy-free just for me, didn’t you? :P

    Reply

  2. Isabelle says: 27 Oct ’10 • 09:46:05

    Gorgeous pizettes, Joy! I may have to hunt down some lobster mushrooms, because I’m dying to try the mushroom and thyme topping for myself (I’m guessing Artizone won’t ship to Toronto… nor do I want to imagine the shipping costs if they did!).

    Also, I refuse to acknowledge that bacon is bad for me, so as far as I’m concerned they’re ALL healthy snacks. ;)

    Reply

  3. Adelina says: 27 Oct ’10 • 12:01:10

    Love these little cuties and how you have flavored them. I am not sure which ones my favorite… I just want a taste of all.

    Reply

  4. Angela says: 27 Oct ’10 • 15:54:21

    I love FM 1410! Spicer always has such fun exotic ingredients to introduce me to!

    Reply

  5. tobias cooks! says: 27 Oct ’10 • 16:24:38

    Delicious presentation! I love these pizzette.

    Reply

  6. penny aka jeroxie says: 27 Oct ’10 • 20:52:45

    Cuteness! I need mroe of these ideas for xmas parties.

    Reply

  7. Letizia Golosa says: 27 Oct ’10 • 23:21:43

    Love you pizzette!!!!!! The toppings ingredients are great!!!

    Reply

  8. yin says: 28 Oct ’10 • 20:15:22

    Sorry, I just love your garden setting photo, attracted by the photo more then the recipe. :-P

    Reply

  9. briarrose says: 29 Oct ’10 • 14:12:26

    Yum. Interesting mix of flavor in a nice little nibble sized package. ;)

    Reply

  10. Soma says: 3 Nov ’10 • 19:26:45

    My heart is with the basil almond pesto. beautiful pictures.

    Reply

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