Pizzette Recipe Mini Italian Pizza Bites

These pizzette, mini Italian pizza bites, are classic Italian street food you find at Cafes and Bakeries to buy and eat on the go. They are lighter and softer than pizza as they are not made with regular pizza dough. It is a yeast dough made with flour, butter, egg, and milk. They are perfect to serve as an aperitivo and are very popular at children's parties and informal buffets. They are easily eaten in one bite.

Jump to:

• What is a Pizzette
• Pizzette dough ingredients
• Tools I use to make it easier
• Making the dough
• Shaping the pizzette
• Baking the pizzette
• When Italians eat pizzette
• What to serve with Italian pizza bites
• Pizza recipes you might also like
• 📋 Pizzette Recipe Mini Pizza Bites

What is a Pizzette

In Italian when "ette" (plural) is added at the end of a word, we mean small, little. That is what Pizzette are: mini pizza bites, about 3 in - 7 cm in size.

However, Pizzette are not the same as pizza. The dough is slightly different and softer. As they are made to be eaten on the go, they are easy to hold and can be eaten in 2 bites.

That is why also the topping is very simple: just tomato sauce with some herbs and often (but not always) a small piece of mozzarella.

This recipe has been given to me by Eliana De Matteis, she is an Italian language teacher who teaches the Italian language through cooking and you can find her videos on her Facebook page Eliana in Cucina.

Pizzette dough ingredients

To make the pizzette dough, you need the following ingredients:

• Manitoba flour: it is a special flour used for pizza. You can find it in this amazon affiliate link; however, if you don't have it, you can replace it with a regular all-purpose flour
• All-purpose flour: if you want to use good quality flour, I would suggest the Caputo brand
• Milk: you can either use low-fat or regular
• Butter: the butter should be melted. I like to melt it in the microwave with the milk as it is also usually cold from the fridge. You can melt it over a regular stove if you don't have a microwave. Before you add the egg into the mix, make sure they are back to room temperature; otherwise, the egg will cook in the hot milk
• Egg: I have my chickens free to walk around the garden, so I always have free-range eggs. I do recommend free range not only for the taste but also for animal wellbeing.
• Sugar: only one small teaspoon of castor (regular) sugar is needed to activate the yeast. The dough is not sweet.
• Salt: 2 teaspoon
• Dry yeast: I prefer dry yeast to fresh one as I can keep a stock at home and make pizza and bread anytime I want. The fresh yeast should be used within a short time frame and kept in the fridge. As yeast is a living bacteria and fresh yeast quickly expires, and the dough will not rise

Tools I use to make it easier

To make these pizzette with the minimum effort, I found two solutions.

First, I make the dough in the bread machine. I just have to mix the wet and the dry ingredients, and the bread machine will do the rest. 1.5 hours later I have perfect dough.

If you don't have a bread machine, you can read how to make dough without the bread machine in this article.

The second solution is the dough press: it is made of 2 heavy cast iron discs that press the dough in between with an easy handle, making a round shape.

It is often used for tortillas, but when I need to shape the dough into rounds, it is so much easier.

I use it to make cannoli siciliani, wraps, piadine and pizzette.

Without a dough press, you have to roll the dough, cut the rounds with a cookie cutter, re-roll the dough scraps, cut the rounds and continue until all the dough is cut into shape. I find it very time-consuming.

With a dough press, you just need to cut the dough in equal sizes and press each piece into the press. So much easier!

Making the dough

To make the dough in the bread machine, you need to prepare the wet and dry ingredients separately.

Preparing the wet ingredients

1. Melt the butter with the milk in the microwave for 1 minute at low power
2. Let them cool down before you add the egg otherwise the egg will cook
3. Add one egg
4. Mix until all the wet ingredients are combined

Preparing the dry ingredients

1. Mix the two flours
2. Add the salt and the sugar
3. Stir with a fork

Preparing the dough in the bread machine

1. Pour the wet ingredients into the bread machine bucket
2. Add the dry ingredients
3. Put the dry yeast
4. Place the basket in the bread machine with the cycle "Dough". The dough will be ready in 1.5 hours

N.B: If you don't have a bread machine you can check the article: how to make dough without the bread machine

Shaping the pizzette

1. Place the dough on a well-floured surface
2. Cut the dough into 40 pieces
3. Make 40 little balls

4. Open the dough press, place a sheet of parchment paper on the bottom disk of the dough press, and dust with flour
5. Place a well-floured dough ball in the center
6. Cover with another sheet of parchment paper
7. Close the press and press the dough
8. Remove the pizzetta disk and start again
9. Until all the balls are pressed

N.B.: if you don't have a dough press you can shape the disk by rolling the dough and using a cookie cutter or a glass to cut the round shapes.

Baking the pizzette

1. Place the pizzette dough on a baking pan covered with parchment paper
2. Pour half spoon of tomato sauce on each pizzetta and sprinkle some salt
3. Spread the tomato sauce around the pizzette with the back of a spoon
4. Add some chopped basil
5. Bake in a hot oven at 355 F - 180 C for 20 minutes
6. Top with half of mozzarella bites while they are still warm

When Italians eat pizzette

Pizzette dough is made with flour, yeast, milk, egg, and butter, making their base soft and light to the bite. They are the perfect street food to eat on the go.

I grew up buying pizzette on my way to school and having them for snacks during the morning break. They are small enough to satisfy children's appetites without overfeeding them.

They are also very popular at children's parties, served together with small Panini filled with salami or ham. Their small size allows kids to gulp them without missing any playing time.

Pizzette can also be served as a snack with an aperitif, the perfect Aperocena: an informal tapas-style dinner with a selection of cocktails.

What to serve with Italian pizza bites

Pizzette can be served warm or at room temperature. They are perfect for an informal buffet.

To create a table with Italian street food you can serve them with panini filled with ham, arancini, fried eggplant balls, fried zucchini flowers and sausage rolls.

Pizza recipes you might also like

For more pizza recipes, check out the category: Pizza

Also check the recipes below:

• Fried Pizza
• Artichoke Pizza with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Scamorza Cheese
• Pizza with Fresh Vegetables
• Traditional Italian White Pizza With Pesto
• Pissaladiere Nicoise
• Focaccia Pizza
• Pizza with Nutella

If you are making these pizzette Italian pizza bites, leave your comment below I would like to hear from you. You can find more delicious ideas if you FOLLOW ME on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram or sign up to my newsletter.