Boat-shaped mini pizzas are a delicious variant of pan pizza, slightly smaller but packed with filling and flavor. I like this shape because it is already individually portioned and everyone can choose the ingredients they prefer to top their own.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 12 Hours
- Preparation time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
- Portions: 6 People
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour (+ a handful to dust my hands)
- 7 oz sourdough starter (freshly refreshed)
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 2 tsps fine salt
- 2 tbsps olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
- 5 oz mortadella
- 3 1/2 oz Emmental cheese
- to taste oregano
- to taste fine salt
- to taste olive oil
Steps
Start by preparing the dough, mixing the flour with the freshly refreshed sourdough starter.
Add lukewarm water, oil, and salt. Knead until you get a homogeneous dough, it will be slightly sticky.
Let it rise in a dry place, covered with plastic wrap and a cloth to keep it warm. I left it to rise overnight, from 9 PM to 9 AM and it was more than doubled. Of course, it depends on the temperature, it may take less or more time.
Once risen, pour it onto a floured surface and knead it quickly.
Around 9 AM, I divided it into 6 balls and left them to rise for about another 3 hours on a floured surface covered with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel. Each ball was about 170-180 grams.
Around 12 PM, I shaped the boats by slightly elongating each ball.
With a razor blade or a very sharp knife, score the inner part.
Open it slightly with your hands, creating a cavity where you will put the filling.
Place the boats on the baking tray lined with parchment paper. Put the tomato sauce in a bowl, season it with oregano, salt, and oil. Top each mini pizza with a generous spoonful of sauce.
Add a nice slice of mortadella to each boat.
Use a grater to turn the Emmental cheese into fine strips.
Add the grated Emmental cheese.
Now drizzle with some oil.
Scent with some oregano.
Bake at 375°F for 35-40 minutes.
Suggestions and Tips
If you don’t have sourdough starter, you can use yeast, you will need 12 grams for half a kilo of flour. The rising times will be considerably reduced, after about two or three hours the dough will already be risen, once the balls are made you will need about another hour for rising.
You can top the boat-shaped mini pizzas however you like: my son loves them with sautéed ground meat and caramelized onions.
