Recipe: Mini Veggie Pizzas

Making homemade pizza is one of those cooking projects that children can properly get involved with, from tipping flour into a bowl and watching the dough come together to choosing their own toppings and giving everything a generous sprinkle of cheese. These mini veggie pizzas are especially good for little helpers because each child can make their own, adding as much or as little of each vegetable as they like. It can get a little floury and wonderfully messy, but that is half the fun.

The dough is simple to make and only needs a handful of basic ingredients, and the pizzas are small enough for little hands to roll, stretch and decorate. Use whatever vegetables you have in the fridge, cut them into small pieces and let the children build their pizzas themselves. It is an easy weekend lunch, after-school activity or family dinner that feels more like making something together than preparing a meal.

Makes
8 - 10 mini pizzas

Prep time
20 minutes, plus 1 hour for the dough to rise

Cook time
12 - 15 minutes

Ingredients

For the dough
2 ½ cups plain flour
1 teaspoon instant dried yeast
1 teaspoon maple syrup or sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
¾ cup warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil

For the pizzas
½ cup passata or pizza sauce
1 cup cubed, ripped or grated mozzarella (or dairy-free cheese)
½ red capsicum, finely diced
½ zucchini, finely diced
½ cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
¼ cup sliced olives, optional
A handful of thinly sliced mushrooms
A handful of baby spinach, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Olive oil, for brushing

Method

Make the dough
Add the warm water, yeast and maple syrup to a large mixing bowl and leave for about 5 minutes. Add the flour, salt and olive oil and stir until the mixture starts to come together. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 - 7 minutes, until it feels smooth and elastic.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and leave somewhere warm for about an hour, or until it has roughly doubled in size.

This is a good point to get the children involved. They can help measure the ingredients, stir the dough and, once it has risen, give it a little poke to see how much it has changed.

Make the pizzas
Preheat the oven to 220°C and line two baking trays with baking paper.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and divide it into 8 to 10 pieces. Roll each piece into a small round, roughly 10 - 12cm across. The shapes do not need to be perfect, and letting children roll their own dough is very much part of the fun.

Place the rounds onto the prepared trays and spread each one with a little passata, leaving a small border around the edge. Sprinkle with cheese, then let everyone choose their toppings. Capsicum, zucchini, tomato, mushrooms and spinach all work well, but the toppings can easily be changed depending on what is in the fridge.

Finish with a sprinkle of oregano and a small drizzle of olive oil.

Bake for 12 - 15 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the cheese is bubbling. Allow the pizzas to cool for a few minutes before serving.

A little tip for cooking with kids
Put all the toppings into small bowls and let children assemble their pizzas at the table. It makes the process easier and gives them plenty of opportunity to experiment with combinations. For younger children, an adult can handle the oven and chopping while they take charge of spreading the sauce and decorating their own pizza.