Pizzas are rarely considered as fare fit for sophisticated parties because they have become the usual take-out offering for busy days. The truth is you can turn pizzas into fabulous cocktail offerings with just a little effort and imagination.
Playing with the Crust
The nice thing about dressing up your pizza is that you don’t even have to make your crust from scratch. If you have a favorite from-the-tube crust, go ahead and use it. Just follow the following tips for coming up with the fanciest and the best homemade pizza for company.
- Create alternate shapes from the crust. Who says you always have to have an 8”, or a 10”, or a 12” round pizza? There are other shapes that will make your pizza more like cocktail delicacies than football-and-beer food. Make tiny squares, circles, diamonds, or ovals. You can always use cookie cutters for this purpose to make the task easier.
- Create 2-inch long and 1-inch thick pizza twists with the fillings inside.
- Make mini calzones in squares or rectangles and see how people react when you fill these up with mushrooms, olives, and cheese.
- Try this gluten-free and vegan BBQ Jackfruit pizza recipe, which is not only healthy but also ideal for people who are sensitive or intolerant to gluten or those with celiac disease.
Presenting Pizza in a New Way
You can use countless unique fillings to come up with pizzas that will go with the finest wine as well as soda and beer. Here are some of the ways your best homemade pizza can shine during cocktail hour.
Vegetarian Pizza Canapes
Yes, not only can you have pizza canapés, they can be vegetarian too. Here is an excellent recipe for you to try.
Ingredients:
- 1 tube of your favorite pizza dough
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 cup broccoli florets
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- Half of each: red and green pepper, chopped
- 1 small onion, minced
- 3/4 cup traditional Italian sauce
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Provolone or any cheese of your choice
Procedure:
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Use a cookie to cut dough into squares.
- Heat oil in skillet over medium heat and add onion, broccoli, mushrooms and pepper until tender.
- Bake crust for 10 to 14 minutes, checking for doneness every now and then.
- When crust is done, spread sauce over each piece and arrange vegetables on top.
- Sprinkle with cheese and serve.
Smoked Salmon Pizza Hors d’oeuvres
Here is a sophisticated recipe as a candidate for best homemade pizza in your book.
Ingredients:
- 1 tube pizza dough
- 1 tablespoon dill leaves, snipped
- Juice of half a lemon
- Half an apple, chopped
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/3 pound Canadian thinly sliced smoked salmon, cut into strips
- 1 small Persian cucumber, cut into thin rings
Procedure:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Work dough as instructed, roll into a thin sheet and cut into squares.
- Bake crust for 8 minutes, checking before then to avoid overcooking.
- Mix sour cream and lemon. Add chopped apples and chopped dill.
- When crusts are done place cucumbers followed by a piece of salmon on each piece; top with a dab of the sour cream and apple dressing. Decorate with dill.
You can never go wrong when you serve these delectable recipes to friends.
