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Friday, January 24, 2014

Very Veggie Puff Pastry Pizza Bites

Very Veggie Puff Pastry Pizza Bites

Fresh and preserved veggies top this vegetarian puff pastry pizza bite.

Very Veggie Puff Pastry Pizza Bites | Farm Fresh Feasts




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Welcome to my final recipe for #AppetizerWeek! I've had fun, learned a lot of html and a wee bit of social media-ing, and watched the laundry pile up [and the snow, and the emails] while sharing savory appetizers and wicked cool giveaways alongside a terrific group of bloggers. If you're just tuning in for your usual Farm Fresh Feasts Friday Pizza you will not be disappointed--this is a tasty lil' morsel of artichokes, olives, spinach and caramelized onions topped with goat cheese on a roasted garlic oil-brushed puff pastry base. It's pretty easy to fix for a game day appetizer spread, though I'd offer napkins and plates to eat it from since the puff pastry is deliciously flaky [carefully avoids comparing anyone I know to the pizza].

I believe in offering choices for everyone I'm feeding [unless you're my kid and want cake or cookies for breakfast. Then there is no choice but cookies "No"].  I usually fix pizza for my family on Friday night, and frequently I make two pies so everyone has a choice.  Since I shared Pickled Pepper and Pepperoni Puff Pastry Pinwheel Pizza Palooza yesterday, I thought I'd conclude my contributions to #AppetizerWeek with a vegetarian choice--Very Veggie Puff Pastry Pizza Bites.

I've tried to spend a bit of each post talking about my food philosophy and today is no exception.  Today I want to talk about pantries.  Much of the toppings for my weekly pizzas are what I consider to be pantry staples:  a jar of artichoke hearts, a jar of olives, pickled peppers and cheese in the fridge.   I've got pepperoni and leftover cooked meats in the freezer.  Picking up one or two items (especially on sale or marked down) with each shopping trip means that over time I end up with a well-stocked pantry (but without the crazy cash outlay).  Buying in bulk can save money--if you have make the space for it.  Because I want the seasonal Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share vegetables to feed my family year round, I've got an extra little freezer (doubles as a microwave stand) to store the farm vegetables that don't live in the Strategic Winter Squash Reserve. In addition, each year I expand my canning repertoire to put up the ever-increasing volume of tomatoes that we require.

I didn't go from zero (grasshopper) to 60 (ant) in a season--I've been evolving my ability to squirrel away food in season over the past dozen or so years.  [I've probably mixed up a bunch of animal/insect metaphors there, oops.] If I get a bunch of onions on sale, for example, I'll caramelize them in my crock pot (link to recipe below) and freeze them in ½ cup portions so I can bring them out when I get a hankering.  Too many leeks?  Slice them, wash them, and freeze them, to add to dishes. Peppers piling up? Chop and freeze them on trays, or roast and chop them before freezing--then add to soups, stews, and spaghetti sauce.  This means that I've always got ingredients on hand to make a variety of pizzas, like this one.

Very Veggie Puff Pastry Pizza Bites | Farm Fresh Feasts

Visit all the other Appetizer Week blogs for more delicious ideas:
Very Veggie Puff Pastry Pizza Bites | Farm Fresh Feasts

Very Veggie Puff Pastry Pizza Bites | Farm Fresh Feasts

NOTE: This recipe is not gluten free as written, because I used puff pastry dough containing gluten. To adapt this recipe for a gluten free diet please substitute the gluten free puff pastry dough of your choice.
Check labels to confirm that your other ingredients are also gluten free. Good sources for determining gluten free products can be found here:
http://knowgluten.me/2012/03/31/other-names-for-gluten/
http://glutenfreedoctor.com/gluten-free/
http://www.celiac.com/categories/Safe-Gluten%252dFree-Food-List-%7B47%7D-Unsafe-Foods-%26amp%3B-Ingredients/

Very Veggie Puff Pastry Pizza Bites

Ingredients


Instructions


  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  If you've got a pizza stone, preheat it as well. 
  2. On a lightly floured piece of parchment paper, roll out the puff pastry to about 10 by 15 inches.  
  3. In a small bowl, mash the garlic and stir with olive oil. Brush the dough with the roasted garlic oil. 
  4. Top with onions, spinach, artichoke hearts, and olives.  Dot with bits of goat cheese.  
  5. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until crust is puffed at the corners (the middle will remain mostly flat and be a tasty cracker pizza) and the goat cheese is lightly browned (I kept mine on the parchment the whole time).  
  6. Cool a few minutes on a rack. Slice into squares and serve.
  7. If you'd like to make pinwheels out of this pizza, even though you can't get any alliteration going with the vegetable toppings, finely chop the vegetables and please follow the pinwheel instructions from yesterday's post.

12 comments:

  1. Minus the green olives, this pizza is right up my ally. Looks delicious!

    I like the stacking salt box from today's give away best. A salt cellar makes cooking so much easier and with this there is a compact place for your pink and grey salts in addition to the regular Kosher.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Heather,
      You know, I wasn't really thinking about other colors of salts, but you're right, that's an excellent idea.
      Thanks!

      Delete
  2. Looks yummy! Love pizza made on puff pastry :) I like the tip about carmelizing lots of onions at once and freezing.

    My favorite is the lazy spoon and ladle.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sherri,
      Puff pastry is not my friend, but I have picked up some more to keep on torturing myself.
      Thanks!

      Delete
  3. Can I love the "Sir Whisk A Lot Egg Whisk" for the name alone? Ha!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Whitney,
      Rachael Ray can be counted on for cute names, can't she?
      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  4. I love the idea for this pizza and of course the veggies involved. They are near and dear to my heart or at the very least, my stomach. I enjoyed hearing about your pantry staples, and of course I appreciated your animal metaphors, especially those crazy squirrels because they're nuts or love nuts, and both are good in my book.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Meghan,
      A devious squirrel was taunting poor Wee Oliver Picklepants yesterday. I believe he had a bad French accent, too . . .
      Thanks!

      Delete
  5. This looks so good, and I love everything on it! I can't wait to try this recipe:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ginnie,
      Good luck--puff pastry is not as easy as I'd thought.
      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  6. Looks veryyyyyyy tasty!
    I'm a vegetarian and this is the perfect pizza for me
    I really like all these veggies, including the aartichoke hearts :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Winnie,
      Thanks for your kind words--this was a very tasty pizza.

      Delete