Puff Pastry Breakfast Pizzas

Okay, come on!  I bet all of you parents know that feeling... it's a Sunday night.  You open your kid's backpack (because let's face it, why would you open it during the weekend?) and you find out that you are class snack helper in a couple of days!  Oh my!  Last time we were snack helper we brought cupcakes for Canon's birthday.  I am convinced that the kids were bouncing off the walls after that, so I felt the need to redeem myself this time.  I decided to go with these flaky little sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast pizzas.  Man, oh, man... these things were so good!  Not only were they kid friendly, but these would be SO great to make ahead of time and pop into the toaster oven before leaving out for school or work in the mornings! Where's the egg?  It's hidden.  I'll get to that.  ;)

Of course since I had to figure out the process ahead of time, I went ahead and made up some grown up ones as well, which would be perfect for a brunch.   This may sound like just another excuse to play with my food, but trust me, it really was legit.  Here's the scoop.  The pastries with a "fancy" topping cook differently than the ones with a "cheesy" topping.  And since of course I want yours to be super successful, that's what I'm here for... to pass that information along to you, of course.

I'm going to give you the ingredients for the puff pastry breakfast pizzas that I made.  You should totally feel free to use whatever you want on yours.  You can make these as as healthy or decadent as you wish with a variety of meats, cheeses, veggies and the like.   Use your imagination.

Print this recipe!

Ingredients:  

• 1 sheet of frozen puff pastry dough for 9 pastries
• sold 2 sheets per box
• sauce base per 9 pastries
• 1/4 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• kosher salt + black pepper
• fresh chives, finely chopped
• Toppings of choice

Toppings I used for vegetable brunch pizzas -

• prosciutto
• purple onions, very thinly sliced on mandoline
• heirloom tomatoes, thinly sliced
• fresh chives
• black pepper

Toppings I used for sausage and cheese breakfast pizzas -

• fully cooked crumbled breakfast sausage 
• available in both pork and turkey varieties
• shredded pizza cheese

Step-by-Step:
Here's the general game plan.  If you are making pizzas that have a NON-cheesy topping, such as the veggie and prosciutto one on the left, add all of the ingredients on the raw dough and cook for the full time.  If you are doing a cheesy topping, like the sausage and cheese pizza on the right, 15 minutes is going to be too long, and your cheese will be too brown.  So for those, we will pre-bake the dough.
 
Veggie Brunch Pastry Pizzas -
Roll out the dough.  Cut into squares and prick all over with a fork, leaving an outer intact border.  Apply a spoon of sauce, then your toppings.  Put the topped pizzas on a tray prepared with parchment into the freezer for 10 minutes so the butter in the pastry can get cold again (so they will puff).  Bake for about 15 minutes until golden brown. 

On a floured work bench, divide sheets of pastry into three sections.  This is where it normally folds out, so that's a given.  I rolled out each strip a little larger than it already was.

Further divide each strip into thirds.  You should end up with nine squares for each sheet of dough.

Make the sauce by combining ricotta and an egg.

Season with salt and pepper.

Add in some chopped chives.  Prick the pastry dough with a fork, leaving a border around the edges intact with no prick marks.

Smooth on a spoonful of the sauce onto each square of pastry.  Then top them as you desire. 

Don't forget, pop these guys back into the freezer for about 10 minutes before baking so they will puff up nicely for you!  After all this handling, the butter in the dough will have gotten warm by now.

Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees F.

And oh my gosh!  These reheat SO wonderfully in the toaster oven!
 
Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Pizzas -   
Roll out the dough.  Cut into squares and prick all over with a fork, leaving an outer intact border.  Put the prepared dough on a tray prepared with parchment into the freezer for 10 minutes so the butter in the pastry can get cold again (so they will puff).  Bake for 10 minutes until there is just a little color on them.  We will back them the rest of the way when we add the toppings.

To finish, add a spoon of sauce, then your toppings.  You can bake them now, or refrigerate for later.    Bake another 6 - 8 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly and pastry is golden. 

To make for a crowd... (I was making 3 boxes of pastry)

• 1 (15oz) container ricotta
• 6 eggs
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper  
• 1 rounded Tbsp chives, finely chopped

A whole container of ricotta (not all shown here) + 6 eggs.  I happen to have a semi-professional egg cracker living with me.  Mix well.

Season with 1 tsp kosher salt + 1/2 tsp restaurant style black pepper.  Why do I like this style?  The specks are a lot larger, so I think it looks prettier.  That's why.

Mix well and add chives.  Depending on your audience, you might also like to add a bit of garlic powder to the sauce.  But this was for kids, so I wanted a nice, mild flavor.  I also knew that they would have a fit if they saw "EGGS" on their pizzas, so this is how I was going to get away with it.  The sauce was smooth and creamy and worked like a dream!

Here are my pre-baked "crusts."  You can see pricking the insides with a fork before baking inhibits some of the puffing, and leaves us with a little mini puffed border around the the edges.   Add a spoon of sauce to each.  I didn't measure.  I just used a regular spoon - the sort you use to add sugar to your coffee in the morning.  Smear it around inside the border.

Add whatever toppings you desire.  I added 1 Tbsp crumbled breakfast sausage to each.  For the sake of convenience.  I purchased the one that was already fully cooked, but of course you could cook your own if you'd like.  You change it up by adding crumbled bacon or even ham.  Then sprinkle about a tablespoon of shredded cheese over the top.  These pastries ended up being about the size of my palm, which is about the same as a pop-tart, but I assure you... These come with much more flavor and will do a much better job of starting the day off strong!

Here we are just before leaving the house on our way to bring breakfast for Canon's class.  We brought WAY more than this... but somehow a couple of large aluminum trays with plastic lids didn't quite look fancy enough for the photo.  :)

Consider this.  You could make these ahead of time on the weekend.  Even a few different kinds of toppings.  Put them in an airtight container or a big zip top bag in the refrigerator.  You can take them out and pop them in the oven for a great, fast breakfast.  I've tried them in the regular oven as well as the toaster oven.  You can take out as few or as many as you'd like, which is super convenient.

This would be a great thing to send with your college student who lives away from you during the week.  Or even for your little ones... as surely these are far superior to pop tarts!

And for you busy moms and dads who skip breakfast, you can pop one into the toaster oven while you make your coffee, throw it in a paper towel, and you are OUT - THE - DOOR!

I hope you enjoyed this recipe!
If you'd like to see what else I've been cooking up, hop on over to my Recipe Index.  You are sure to find something to get you and your kids up and going!  You can also visit my new page, Filmstrips for Pinning, where you can see whole recipes at a glance.  I'm still working on adding existing recipes to this collection.

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