Bizzetta By Chef Nic
Bizzetta is my creation and it gets its inspiration from mini pizzas called pizzettas. We are all familiar with pizza regardless of where we come from.
This bean twist makes use of a bean sauce as opposed to tomato sauce as the base and beans as the toppings as opposed to any other toppings like chicken, beef or salami.
I chose to have it in the mini or micro form factor because it makes more sense to me as a finger food or an aperitif but it might be of value to try the recipe on a full bizza.
This dish is also inspired by and pays homage to a more common dish in Kenya, that is chapati and beans.
Chapati and beans is one of the few instances where one may experience culinary delight as regards beans and to this day remains a favourite of many.
As opposed to chapati and beans where each dish is cooked and presented separately, this dish mimics those two but takes the form of pizza and combines those two meals into one to create this culinary experience.
This seems to me, a great way to make beans cool again and to make people fall in love with this super yet humble seed by aligning it to a globally accepted and appreciated phenomenon – pizza!
Ingredients:
- For the dough:
- All purpose Flour - 1 ½ cups
- Yeast - ½ teaspoon
- Water - ½ cup
- Salt - 1 teaspoon
- Sugar - 1 teaspoon (optional)
- Olive oil - 3 tablespoons
- For the toppings:
- Beans - 3 cups
- Bean puree - (⅓ of the boiled beans)
- Basil - 1 sprig
- Onions - 2
- Mushrooms - 1 cup sliced
- Capsicum (green pepper) 1 diced
- Oregano - 1 teaspoon
- Salt - 2 teaspoons
- Mozzarella cheese - 1 cup
Method:
For Dough:
Add ½ cup of warm water into a clean bowl
Add ½ teaspoon of instant dry yeast. Set it aside for 5 to 10 minutes for the yeast to awaken
After the yeast has awakened and there are bubbles forming, add in three tablespoons of olive oil; mix to combine
In a second clean bowl, pour 1 ½ cups of all purpose flour
Add in a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of sugar
Mix well to combine. Feel free to add your favourite herbs like oregano or rosemary
Mix the dry and wet ingredients well to form a dough
Pour the dough onto a clean lightly floured surface and flatten it using a rolling pin. Take care not to make it too thin
Using your preferred size circular cutter, press down on the dough to make circular cuts. Set them aside
For toppings:
Chop the onions, capsicums, mushrooms and basil. Set aside in a separate clean bowl
Grate your cheese and set aside in a clean bowl
Boil your preferred variety of beans and set aside to cool down
Divide the beans into two portions. Pour ⅓ of the boiled and cooled beans in a blender together with a handful of the chopped basil. Add salt as is necessary
Use a table spoon to pour and spread a tablespoonful of the bean puree onto the cut dough pieces
On top of that, add your bean topping followed by the chopped onions and capsicums. This would be the time to add the optional mushrooms for an extra layer of nutritional value
Top it all off with your grated cheese
Align your baking tray with parchment paper and place the raw bizzettas. (standard baking tray should accommodate 6 at a go)
Put in a preheated oven at 200 degrees for 12 to 17 minutes
