Spring. It’s trying really hard these days to make an appearance, although the chilly temperatures make it hard to believe what the calendar tells us. At least the snow is nearly all gone (except in dark corners that rarely see the sun!) and the sun is more present than it was even just a few weeks ago. And hey, it’s nearly Easter. How did that happen? Not that I am complaining – Easter typically signals new beginnings, a new, warmer season and, if you’re a teacher in the northern hemisphere, the beginning of “the end” – it’s all crazy busy from hereon in. It also signals an extra long weekend and, for many, sharing meals with friends and family. Often that signals a flurry of activity in the kitchen and “big meal” stress but entertaining really doesn’t need to be stressful – some of my favourite get-togethers are more casual affairs, a brunch, for example, or an early dinner with less traditional Easter foods and more of an emphasis on sharing time and food with friends that making “the right” dishes for the occasion.
For this month’s Kraft Canada #whatscooking assignment, I was perusing the Easter recipes for ideas for casual entertaining over the Easter weekend (or, you know, anytime!) and couldn’t stop thinking about these mini margherita pizzas. What a great idea for entertaining – they are fabulous little hors d’oeuvre bites or they can be transformed into a larger dish for a casual brunch. I made a few changes – namely switching out the pizza dough for puff pastry (store bought – shh, don’t tell anyone!) and slow-roasting the tomatoes.
I had found some fabulous little cherry tomatoes…
That I decided to slow roast, to really bring out the flavour. I tossed them in a little olive oil, salt, pepper and minced garlic…
And roasted them for a short amount of time at a fairly high temperature. I before they completely disintegrated so they would keep their shape, knowing they would be cooking more on top of the pizza.
Once you’ve roasted your tomatoes, the rest is very simple.
Easy slow-roasted tomato and mozzarella pizza.What's Cooking? Slow-roasted tomato and mozzarella pizza
Ingredients
Instructions
Verdict? This is a really simple dish that tastes like you’ve spent much longer in the kitchen than you have! A perfect light lunch or brunch dish or, if you prefer, sliced and served with apéritifs. The extra effort to slow-roast the tomatoes is well worth it, so don’t be tempted to skip that step!
Disclosure: As a Kraft Canada #whatscooking contributor, I receive compensation for writing these posts, however, all opinions are 100% my own.
This was a wonderful apero snack, and I really liked the switch-out to the lighter puff pastry.
I paired this was a couple glasses of AOP Bearns red wine…a lesser-known appellation from the Southwest of France.
Yeah, the puff is a nice change.
Love roasted cherrie tomatoe!
Adds such flavour!
Even just reading this post, I could smell the pizza… lovely
I’ll make one for you when I’m home 🙂
Yay Spring! Love everything about this especially the puff pastry — such a great idea 🙂
Thanks so much!
Thanks so much! Love this too!
A lovely recipe Mardi. I am so keen on recipes that have a favorable effort to glory ratio.
I am getting a roll of puff pastry out of the freezer now for supper.
My favourite type of recipe too!