Sweeta Pizza

Pizette Dolce con Camembert, Pera, Datteri, Nocciole, Coriandolo & Cardamome
Sweet Little Pizza's with Camembert, Pear, Dates, Hazelnuts, Coriander & Cardamom

This is not madness... This is pizza! Ok, it is a mad kinda pizza and it's a cheats kinda pizza... But it's yummy and it's easy and it's different and fun!

I had prepared bread rolls using this combination of ingredients the other week, so I knew how wonderfully it worked... But this evening, instead of rolling up my sheets of store-bought pizza dough (That's right! You heard correctly!), I folded over the edges and made my filling into a topping... And what a fun and delicious treat it was too!

This is such a rich and flavorful snack, with mild Camembert cheese, dates, nuts, spices and fresh pair- oh wow! Bring on the different! Who needs that same old same old?!? Not I!

Simple ingredients here... Just 1 pear, 2 handfuls of hazelnuts, 6 dates, 100g of Camembert cheese, a half teaspoon of coriander seed and 2 cardamom pods... Together with 1 roll of pizza dough this will yield 6 individual mini pizzas! Pretty good going, eh?

These are fun to eat hot or cold, with the chewy, fruity dates, the fresh pear, the crunchy nuts and aromatic spices... Just wait till you take your first bite! You will be hooked!

The first step is to dry roast the hazelnuts in a frying pan until you notice the skin peeling off, but before the nuts start to brown... We want that to happen in the oven! But this way, you can easily rub most of the skins off and the nuts begin to get crunchy already before baking. There are other methods, like blanching the nuts... But no, no.... I wanted a crunch, not a blanch!

Next, cut the nuts in half, peel and dice the pear, cut the dates in half and remove the stones and cut the Camembert into slices. To make things easier, I popped the Camembert into the freezer for half an hour before I started, to get it a little firmer, so that it wouldn't stick together so much.

Next step was to crush and bring the coriander seeds and the cardamom with a mortar and pestle... The coriander goes SO we'll with pear! I really love it!

Cut the pizza dough into equal sized rectangles and then fold over the edges a little before adding the ingredients for the topping...

By folding over the edges you can prevent that the cheese pours over and spills off of use pizza. I at started with the cheese, then added the dates, then the pear and then a generous sprinkle of the ground coriander seed and cardamom and then squeezed in hazelnuts in-between everything.

And of course I used my trick of first toasting the bottom of the pizza on the stove top in a dry frying pan. I baked them in the pan until the base was firm and the cheese had melted.... Then off, into the oven they went for 5-10 minutes, under the broiler at the highest setting, until they were golden and delicious!

That DOES look pretty good, doesn't it? And whaddaya know?! It really is!

It's all about the combination, the spices, the nuts and how they all work so well with the fresh pear and Camembert... Just go ahead and try it! Words and pictures are not going to convince you! Flavor is!

I love trying something new!