Mini Bagel Pizzas
- Tracy Scheckel
- May 16
- 3 min read
I can't even tell you how many boxes of frozen mini pizza bagels we went through when my kids were teenagers. Hot Pockets, Bagel Bites, Ellio's Pizza and frozen White Castle burgers were staples, and in my mind better than pretzels and chips for after school snacks. Of the entire list, Hot Pockets and Bagel Bites never passed my lips.
For a time, I was keeping mini bagels in the house because they are a perfect vessel for a 2-ounce breakfast sausage patty, cheese, & egg sandwich. They are significant;y less carbs and calories than an English muffin or full sized bagel and make a great breakfast sandwich 'slider'. After a while I got bored with them for breakfast.....
One day I noticed that there was a half of a bag of minis in my bread keeper that I had no interest in eating for breakfast. Hmmm.... what to do with them? The memory of those damned Bagel Bites came rushing back to me and inspired a more gourmet version. that I would actually eat.
I had some beautiful Compari tomatoes on the counter, some of that yummy roasted red pepper sauce from the crab cakes; with some shredded mozzarella, basil and a few other staples i keep on hand, I went to work.
Once the bagels are sliced open and the tomatoes sliced thin, this is a fun thing to do with kids. I kept this recipe simple with just the cheeses, tomato an d the aioli that I concocted from the roasted red pepper sauce, but there are countless toppings that can get added (in my opinion, on top of the tomatoes but beneath the cheese).
THE RECIPE:
Mini bagels sliced open
Thinly sliced tomato (2 to 3 per bagel half depending on how thin you slice them)
Shredded mozzarella (about 1T per bagel half
Grated Parmesan for aioli and to sprinkle on each one
Some kind of aioli to spread on each bagel (about 1T per bagel)
For this recipe I mashed a couple of cloves of roasted garlic that I keep in the freezer with about 1 cup of the red pepper sauce, a tablespoon of basil, a tablespoon of grated Parmesan, and salt and pepper to taste
If aioli isn't an option, drizzle or brush a bit of olive oil on each bagel half.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
The first thing to do is to slice the tomatoes as thin as possible. I prefer Compari for two reasons, first they ALWAYS taste like summer tomatoes and second they are about the same size as the mini bagels so they fit nicely without having to cut them up.
Lay the tomatoes out on a cutting board in a single layer and press a couple of layers of paper towel or cheesecloth to extract as much liquid as possible.
While the tomatoes are sitting, slice open the bagels and set them on parchment or a silicone mat in a rimmed baking pan.
Combine the aioli ingredients in a small bowl and stir until completely combined.
If using olive oil, you can drizzle or as I prefer, pour the oil into a small bowl and use a pastry brush to coat each bagel half.
Spread the mixture thinly and evenly on each bagel.
Place tomatoes slices to cover the top of each
Sprinkle shredded mozzarella and parmesan on each mini pizza
Bake until cheese just starts to turn golden anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes should do.
We enjoyed these for lunch on the day I made them, but I froze the bulk of them between layers of wax paper so I can reheat for snacks just like, but OH so much better than those Bagel Bites of yore.....
BONUS idea: These are great finger food for parties. Bake them just enough to melt the cheese, then once cool enough to handle, cut them in quarters so they look like mini pizza slices. Then set them in a single layer in a pan and freeze them. Once they're completely frozen you can put them in a zipper bag to store in the freezer until you want to finish bake and serve them. Place frozen bites in a single layer on a lined baking sheet (bagel side down) and bake at 350 degrees until the cheese melts and just starts to turn golden. DON'T OVER BAKE if you go this route.
