What a FUN Appetizer... And very fast and easy... Made with a can of refrigerator biscuits. Now, the pizza shown is a bit of a complicated pizza. Comes with a Story...Pizza Quattro Stagiono is Italian for Four Seasons Pizza. It's a perfect dish to make in celebration of a very good year, and anticipatory of an even better one coming. It is also a "show off" dish that lets family and friends know that the kitchen that can produce this is something to reckon with. Imagine if you will 100 years ago when this dish was first served...
Pre-refrigeration...
Pre-supermarkets...
Pre-prepackaged convenience foods.
But a pantry that can serve mushrooms out of season, or artichoke hearts with frost on the ground, or olives tasting fresh as the day they were picked... That's a cook that plans ahead. Top the fourth "season" of the pizza with slices of cured prosciutto ham just seems like showing of.
And that is the purpose of a Quattro Stagioni... Celebrate the bounty of the last year. Plan for the success of the next and ... shhh, don't tell your family and friends, the purpose is to show off.
I like to make this type of appetizer, with 4 choices for mini pizza (love choices). Each biscuit becomes a little pizza. BUT, feel free to adapt this pizza to something of your own desires... A Taco pizza, a pepperoni, or how about a Meatball (if you use a yellow cheese, it could look like a bouquet of daisies).
Fun, festive, spectacular presentation, tasty and FAST AND EASY!!!
Biscuit PIZZA
Fast & Easy
Quattro Stagioni
or 4 Seasons Pizza
Mini Appetizer
Fast & Easy
Quattro Stagioni
or 4 Seasons Pizza
Mini Appetizer
Ingredients
- 1 Can Biscuits (I used Pillsbury Grands)
- 1/2 Stick (4 TBS) Butter
- 4 Cloves Garlic, Minced, Smashed and crushed into paste
- 16 TBS Pizza Sauce
- 16 TBS Grated Mozzarella Cheese
- Topping of your Choice, I made an Italian Quattro Stagioni or 4 Seasons Pizza
-
4 TBS
Artichoke Hearts (from a jar, drained and just the leaves cut and dried)
For Spring -
4 TBS
Sliced Olives,
For Summer -
4 TBS
Shitake Mushrooms
For Fall (I also added a few Spinach Leaves (for color) and a small amount of grated cheese on this section to help hold the mushrooms on the pizza) -
4 SLices
prosciutto Ham
For Winter
- Preheat oven (and a LARGE Pizza Stone) to 375 degrees
- While the oven is preheating, in a small saute pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add the Garlic and set in low simmer for 10 minutes to infuse the garlic into the butter.
- It is important to Mise en Place (prepare in advance) all of the ingredients. Chop, slice and dice so that you can assemble this fast and get the stone back into the oven fast before it cools.
- Remove all of the biscuits from the can. Separate each biscuit in half. Be careful not to crush the dough, you want the biscuits to fluff up as they cook. Now, remove the Pizza Stone from the oven. Arrange half of the half biscuits in a circle edges touching (see photos to the right). Pinch the edges that touch together. Now take the other half of the half biscuits and arrange them like petals in a flower. Again, pinch edges together.
- Brush the hot garlic butter onto the top of each biscuit.
- Return to the oven and bake for about 15 minutes until the tops are golden brown and delicious. Remove from the oven, but turn the oven to broil while you...
- Turn these biscuits into the pizza... TBS of Sauce, a TBS of Cheese, a TBS of Toppings on each biscuit 4 Biscuits of each separate topping each, 16 total.
- Return to the Oven and Broil for just 1-2 minutes (Until the cheese melts).
- Serve warm right on the pizza stone. The biscuits will pull apart easily and become 16 tiny mini appetizer pizzas
- And ENJOY!!!
This is Pizza #25 in my list of 52 Pizza Party Pizzas...
Week #1 ...A simple Salami Pizza (break free of the addiction to Pepperoni). A classic example of the Italian belief that less is more... Allow a quality ingredient like the artisanal Dry cured sausage, the sauce and the cheese balance beautifully!
I made a fantastic HOT Sausage Pizza... Made with mini balls of sausage (there is a small trick) that also looks as dramatic as it is tasty!
I was on the grill making a dessert or Appetizer FANTASTIC Honey - Goat Cheese - Arugula Pizza... Delicious and PERFECT if you want to WOW your friends with something unique on the GRILL!
A Pizza from my youth, the (then) exotic sounding Canadian Bacon and Onion GRILLED pizza! Loaded with color and the unique taste of the sweet juicy back bacon that became a legend back in Pekin, Illinois in the 70's.
A fond memory of our time living in the islands... US Virgin Island, St Thomas had a fantastic little beach bar where you could get a Steak and Gorgonzola Pizza (and a bottle of wine) for just $25... one of the few bargains on the island and a darn fine PIZZA!
We stayed out on the grill for a fun APPETIZER PIZZA of Goat Cheese, Honey and Walnuts! Worked perfect to serve as guests arrive, the sweet honey, zippy goat cheese and the savory walnuts paired perfect for a fine welcome treat!
HOW COOL IS THIS BREAKFAST PIZZA??? Ham and Eggs... Cheese and tomato sauce! It is actually a classic Italian recipe for
Bacon and Egg Pizza (Uova e pancetta Pizza)And it is WONDERFUL!
Was something really special for me, a chance to cook with another respected Food Blogger, Penny from Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen, AND to use her open fireplace cooking grate to cook over a live fire and make a pizza topped with Ina Garten's Guacamole Salad! Fruit, Vegges, Black Beans... Makes a FANTASTIC Pizza!
My beloved Rotisserie Chicken gets dressed up with Taco seasonings to help create a Taco Chicken and Pickled Red Onion Pizza! A wonderfully colorful and spicy pizza. Something you would expect at a California fancy pizzeria... or now at home!
Cul de Sac Famous empty Nestors that we are, we were a bit intimidated with the idea of sitting for 7 (YES, SEVEN) of our nieces and nephews for a weekend. I decided to make pizza one night, even more challenging I decided to offer each of the kids a chance to pick their own toppings... CHEESE PIZZA was by far the most requested. But just because it is a simple cheese pizza is no excuse not to make it the best. LOTS of tips to make yours better than a pizzeria!
A new twist on the original classic pizza... A Basil Mint Pesto Margherita Pizza. Pesto is loaded with fresh herbs (herbaceous), Pine Nuts (Nutty) and Garlic (you guessed it... garlicky!), making this pizza layers upon layers of flavors! And pretty too!
Another big change of pace that was HUGELY successful as an appetizer was this Black Bean and Quinoa Salad Pizza. Lots of fresh grilled Corn and a sweet sauce of honey and mascarpone cheese. Unusual combination of ingredients, sauce,cheese and a DELICIOUS Change of Pace!
Fresh, Local, and best and SUMMERTIME!
Great produce is available at just about any street corner... And sometimes even your own garden. Cherry tomatoes are easy to grow and work great in container gardens. And they make a FANTASTIC... Cherry Tomato Margherita Pizza. Colorful and Summertime fresh tasting!
More fresh local And Best...
Seasonal Summer Pizzas are very simple. You want the ingredients to shine. The sauce, dough and cheese takes a back seat to fresh garden herbs. This Fresh Herb Pizza tastes like summer in a garden!
This pizza was a delicious trip to my back yard garden! MY TOMATOES ARE IN MY TOMATOES ARE IN!!! A Fresh Heirloom juicy sweet tomato pie! This is what an Italian pizza ought to be... fresh local and loaded with flavors. My favorite so far!
This pizza is a stretch of leftovers. I had grilled some wonderful Korean Style Short Ribs but only had a single serving left. SO... Stretch those ingredients to make a wonderful pizza for two, A Korean Beef Short Rib Pizza for 2!
I experimented with a new technique today when I made an Italian Brick Oven Style Pizza AT HOME. The trick is HOT HOT HOT, not only the oven but a Pizza Stone as well. My first was this FANTASTIC White Sauced garlic and Tomato Naples style Pizza!
I went a little more traditional American Pizzeria style this week with a sausage pizza. In Fact, this got an Italian upgrade with a Spicy Italian Sausage and Tomato Slices Pizza. Made Naples style in the HOTTEST OVEN Possible.
I vary a bit from a traditional looking pizza with a simple BEER BREAD Crust, MARGHERITA TOPPED Pizza. A bit unusual but fast and EASY to make and a great Bar Snack or Appetizer.
I added a cooking with beer pizza. I simmered Rotisserie Chicken in a combination of beer and Hot Sauce, PLUS used a Beer Pizza Dough recipe to make these appetizer Buffalo Pizza Sticks with Blue Cheese. All the tastes of a bar snack, Buffalo Chicken Wings on a Pizza!
I was feeling very California this week with a now new CLASSIC, my version of the pizza that made Wolfgang Puck famous, the Salmon, Goat Cheese and Shaved red Onions Specialty Pizza. Delicious and exotic (especially for Kansas)!
As everyone says (and every married man knows), Happy Wife... Happy Life! And that counts for pizzas as well. This is my wife's pizza of choice... Your basic Cheese and Pepperoni Pizza. Basic, but the post has plenty of tips for Italian Brick Oven style at home!
This is best when served along side a HOT bowl of soup. Barely qualifying as a pizza, using garlic butter as a sauce, but this Cheesy Garlic Bread Pizza is just perfect for an open face toasted cheese sandwich for soup or just call it... Cheesy Garlic Bread Pizza!
I go to Italian Roots and make a simple (with complex flavors, Poor Man's Pizza, the Bruschetta! A delicious Garlic Bread topped with tomato and mixins. A Restaurant specialty made easy at home!
OK, be sure to come back next Sunday... I already have plans for next weeks' Za!
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It's the most important meal of the day. From fancy to simple, there are always ways to dress up a breakfast dish. These are the meals that make Bed and Breakfast Inns legendary (and usually easier than you think).
Here's your chance to make your guests Ooh and Aah!
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