This is a tale of two pizzas: The Causal Pizza and The Party Pizza. Both are absolutely scrumptious and best of all both are so easy to make. The recipe today is for The Casual Pizza, but stay tuned - The Party Pizza is on the way tomorrow!
Two pizzas in two days, who doesn’t love that?
The Casual Pizza elicited a remarkable quote from a friend who is kind enough to sample all of my culinary inventions as long as they don’t involve mayonnaise. After one bite she said, “I’ll never want tomato sauce on a pizza again!” Unbelievable, I know, but once you try this you’ll be sold.
It started like this: we took a fall break trip to see my son’s best friend, Daniel, at college and I promised a dinner party for his friends. Of course this involved a bunch of hungry guys (no surprise there) and LOTS of food was what the menu required. We discovered that the local grocery store was next to a Dollar Tree and who can resist a Dollar Tree, so we went there first. No one walks out of a Dollar Tree empty handed and we bought a bunch of crystal candle sticks with the crazy idea of crafting them into “Red Solo Cup” wine glasses for a little Tennessee touch and a fun party favor. (Song by Toby Keith) The dinner included our famous Beach Spaghetti, and as an appetizer, we made some fabulous little pizzas. The grocery had mini flat breads called Flat-Outs, the deli advertised a special Gouda cheese and the prosciutto was sitting right there wanting to be a part of the party. That all seemed like a good beginning. Since our spaghetti would have a meat and tomato sauce, the pizzas needed something a little different. I decided to give navy beans mashed up with roasted garlic a try - it sounded like a fun fall dish. Some fresh sage would have been nice, but at the beach you make sacrifices and dried sage isn’t the end of the world. Topped with crispy prosciutto and Gouda – this was one of the most successful appetizers ever.
With the exception of roasting the garlic (you could sauté it if you are in a big hurry) the whole thing took about 15 minutes from beginning to end. The pizzas were 5 inches in diameter and I made enough for everyone to have four, thinking there would be tasty leftovers the next day. Well that was just plain silly – the guys inhaled them, and everything else in sight including several fudge pies for dessert.
When we got back to Nashville, I wanted to make this for my friends and have the opportunity to refine the recipe a bit with some garden sage, arugula, and chives. A sprinkle of chopped toasted almonds was a nice addition and quickly sautéing the flat breads in a hot skillet before adding the toppings made them extra crispy and delicious. Please make these and add your own touches. Who knows, you too may never want tomato sauce again!
White bean and Prosciutto Mini Pizzas
Ingredients
1 head of garlic
1 Tbsp olive oil
¼ tsp salt
6 small flat breads halved or pita bread (Flat-Outs that I used seem to be available in the bread section of most of our local groceries- see ingredient picture)
15 oz can of navy beans, drained
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
Fresh sage, chopped fine (optional)
1 Tbsp olive oil, more if needed
4 oz prosciutto
1½ cups grated Gouda cheese
¼ cup chopped almonds, pecans, or walnuts, toasted
Optional garnishes: arugula and chives
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut the tip off of the head of garlic and place it on a sheet of aluminum foil big enough to wrap around the garlic. Top the garlic with olive oil and salt. Wrap the foil around to completely seal and bake for 45 minutes until garlic is soft. Let cool briefly. (Alternately sauté garlic if you are in a hurry, being careful not to burn it.)
In a small bowl, mash up the white beans a bit.
Squeeze the garlic cloves into the beans along with the oil left in the aluminum foil.
Add the salt, red pepper flakes and sage if you are using it and mash to combine garlic and beans. This doesn’t have to be a smooth paste – lumps are fine.
In a large skillet over medium high heat sauté prosciutto in olive oil until crisp, remove and crumble.
To the same skillet, add the flat breads a few at a time and cook for about a minute on each side to lightly brown.
Place on a baking sheet. (Line with foil for easy clean-up.)
Top flat breads with bean mixture, prosciutto and divide cheese evenly over the top.
Sprinkle with almonds if desired and bake for 6 to 8 minutes to melt cheese.
Top with arugula and chives, or just enjoy as is!
