Conversation food

Some food is meant for a sit down meal, other is meant for mingling. I personally love “conversation food” aka finger food because then you can mingle and talk and still manage to eat. A slice of cheese here – a piece of bread there.

This weekend I co-hosted an appetizer dinner party. We tried to have some hearty dishes and some light dishes, but both had to be finger friendly foods so that people could walk around and get to know each other.

I made mini pizza’s or Pizzette’s.

Pizzette with Gorgonzola, Tomato and Basil
courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis

8 ounces purchased pizza dough
3 ounces Gorgonzola, crumbled
3 ounces cherry tomatoes, quartered
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.

Roll out the pizza dough to 1/4-inch thick. Using a 2 to 2 1/2-inch diameter cookie cutter, cut out 18 circles from the dough. Arrange the circles on a heavy large baking sheet. Sprinkle the Gorgonzola cheese over the circles. Top with the tomatoes, pressing them gently into the dough. Bake until the pizzettes are golden brown, about 10 minutes. Drizzle the pizzettes with oil. Sprinkle the basil over the pizzettes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Arrange the pizzettes on a platter and serve immediately.

I did not have Basil, so I left that off and I let the guest drizzle their own Olive Oil, salt and pepper since I wasn’t sure everyone would like it. They were a huge hit!

I love to make my own pizza, so I think I might try this as a whole pizza one night. The Gorgonzola is not as strong as blue cheese – but just the right amount of “pungentness”.