I’ve not made pizzas at home for a while now! Homemade pizzas, I think, without a doubt, when made with care, are much nicer than shop bought ones, or even those in restuarants. Just like homemade cakes and buiscuits, something about them is just more wholesome. The first homemade ones I recall making were actually with one of my oldest friends from medical school. At that time, over a decade ago, she was living with her then boyfriend, now husband, up North, in this lovely house across a massive open park/space. It was the first of the annual trips I would make up there for a number of years, to spend time with her and her family. On that first trip she had prepared dough and we put a range of toppings on (I cannot remember now what they were!). All I remember was that they were delicious and filled me with a warmth and homeliness that I did not know I was missing and have sought to recreate ever since. The second time I made them was back in my little flat in London, I was this time by myself but the smell of the cooked pizzas made my tiny home cozy and, I suspose the word now is ‘Hygge’ in the way I needed it to be for then single woman that I was in my early 30s. Third time lucky, a few years later I invited Ignacio to my flat when we were first dating. I thought it would be fun to make homemade pizza’s! I think in those days, I assumed that they way to a man’s heart was through his stomach. I’m not ashamed to admit that perhaps those pizza’s were perhaps the worst pizza’s I have ever made. I know now it was likely related to the choice of mozzarella, which turned my creations into a soggy mess. However, none of it was wasted. Ignacio and I had fun cooking together and shortly after that we became an official couple. The rest, as they say, is history…

Then somehow 6 years later [2018], the pizza making urge rears it head again. This time Ignacio and I married by now (my food did not put him off) and he decides to experiment with making pizza dough. He makes what seems like tonnes of it, which we store in the freezer and take out from time to time to make homemade pizzas. Which were of course delicious. I think perhaps my husband maybe be the better cook, I just do more cooking.

We have never made pizza’s at home since that time. For me, I perhaps cannot be bothered with the faff of making pizza dough, even though I do like pizza. So you can imagine how happy I was when I turned the pages of my Sabrina Ghayour book and found this recipe staring out at me. These mini versions, combining Italian and Lebanese cooking traditions, seemed too cute to resist! The easiest thing ever. Perfect for a working at home lunch.

They were still a little soggy! I clearly have not learnt from the previous experience and I did just use a combination of mozzarellas that we had in the fridge that needed using up (retrospectively I now know that these were buffalo mozzarella pearls). I think next time, to avoid watery pizza, I should also be draining and drying the mozzarella before topping the pizza. We ended up folding up these slighly wet pizzettes and eating them as wraps. I only made 4, so we had 2 each. However we could easily have eaten 4 each! Why? They were so light and favoursome. I think it was the simplicity of the recipe that made them so moreish.

Ingredients

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to its highest setting (with fan if it has one). Line a large baking tray with baking paper.   My oven’s highest setting is 250^oC.
• Place the tortilla wraps on the prepared baking tray and drizzle with just enough olive oil so that when you rub it in it coats the whole wrap. Divide the za’atar between the tortillas, reserving a little for seasoning the topping, then divide the cheese, olives and tomatoes between them.  
• Season with salt and pepper and the remaining za’atar, then bake for 4 – 5 minutes until the cheese has melted. Serve immediately.

Reference: Simply, Sabrina Ghayour, page 20