Name: Mini Breakfast Pizzas with Arugula Salad
Ingredients: 12 ounces fresh pizza dough; all-purpose flour, for dusting; 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese; 2 teaspoons lemon zest ((plus more for serving, if desired)); 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided; 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided; 4 large eggs; 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese ((plus more for serving, if desired)); 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil; 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice; 4 cups packed baby arugula

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Mini Breakfast Pizzas with Arugula Salad. Did you notice the words pizza and salad on this one? They’re not served side by side as you might expect.

The lemony peppery salad is piled on top of the fresh-from-the-oven crispy egg-adorned pizza so that every bite of this deliciousness is loaded with texture and flavor.

Gather up what you’ll need for your Mini Breakfast Pizzas with Arugula Salad.

Fresh pizza dough – Purchased from your local market or deli. Or prepare your preferred homemade dough.
Flour – A small amount of unbleached all-purpose flour is used here to aid in rolling out the dough.
Ricotta cheese – Ricotta is the perfect choice with its slightly sweet taste and creamy texture. I used the part-skim variety here but whole milk ricotta would also work well.
Lemon zest – The finer the better. I use my microplane grater for the best results.
Kosher salt – If need be, table salt can be used with caution. Table salt is finer and more dense than kosher salt, so a teaspoon of table salt will contain more actual salt than a teaspoon of kosher salt. When substituting, use about two-thirds the amount of table salt specified in a recipe using kosher salt.
Freshly ground black pepper
Eggs – Large eggs (chilled or at room temperature) are used in this recipe.
Parmesan cheese – Freshly grated. Whenever possible, I grate my own from a block of aged Parmigiano Reggiano.
Extra-virgin olive oil – My first choice is always single source EVOO from Italy. Less processing = healthier more delicious olive oil.
Lemon juice – Freshly squeezed is always best.
Fresh baby arugula – Preferred over mature arugula, baby arugula is picked when the leaves are still small and tender. Baby arugula tends to have a less pronounced peppery bite than mature arugula, which has large, full-size leaves.

Please don’t think for a moment that you can’t do this. You totally can.

What you see here is prepared pizza dough that I purchased at my local bakery. Use whatever is available to you. Or even make your own dough, if that’s what you prefer.

Let dough stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Place a pizza stone or large baking sheet in oven.
Preheat your oven to 450°F.
Leave the stone in the oven as it preheats.
Divide the dough into 4 pieces.

You’ll start with about 12-ounces of dough that is separated into four equal pieces. It can be difficult to divide it evenly. so I always depend on my digital food scale to give me a hand.

Have more than 12-ounces of fresh dough on hand?

You can always make more mini-crusts than you’ll need at the moment.
Measure out as many 3-ounce portions as you can.
Partially bake them.
Pop the extra discs in a ziplock bag.
Store them in the freezer for some future date.
You’ll be so glad you did.

Lightly flour a clean work surface.
Roll each dough ball into a circle measuring about 6” to 7” in diameter.
If your circles aren’t perfectly round in shape, it’s okay. Rustic is good.
And be sure to give them a generous amount of piercings with the tines of you fork.
These guys tend to puff-up considerably in the first baking and those tiny holes will keep that puffing somewhat under control.

Carefully arrange two dough circles on the hot pizza stone.
Bake at 450°F for 3 minutes.
Remove the partially baked discs from the oven.
Flip them over so that the cooked side is facing up & set aside.
Repeat with remaining two dough circles.

Don’t have a pizza stone?

Even though you’ll achieve the best results using a pizza stone, you can still make these delicious mini pizzas without one. Take one of your large rimmed baking sheets, place it on the oven rack upside down and preheat it as you would a pizza stone.

You’ll then have a smooth surface to easily slide the pizzas onto and off of the pan.

Stir together the ricotta cheese and lemon zest in a medium bowl.
Divide the ricotta mixture evenly among the cooked sides of dough circles.
Sprinkle evenly with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
You’ll use a total of 1/8-teaspoon of each to share among the mini-pizzas.
Carefully top each dough circle with an egg.
Sprinkle a tablespoon of grated Parmesan over each.

Working in two batches, return the topped dough circles to the hot pizza stone.
Bake at 450°F until egg whites are set and yolks are still a little runny, about 6 to 10 minutes.

The timing will depend on the size of your eggs and whether or not you like the yolk to be on the runny side.

While the pizzas are baking, prepare the arugula salad.

Whisk together the extra virgin olive oil & freshly squeezed lemon juice.
Season with the remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt and pepper.
Stir in the arugula so that the leaves are evenly coated.
Set the salad aside until the mini-pizzas finish baking.

It’s not advisable to dress the arugula ahead of time since it tends to wilt when you do.

Your Mini Breakfast Pizzas with Arugula Salad are almost ready to be devoured.

The moment the pizzas are removed from the oven, top each one off with a generous amount of arugula salad.
About a cup of salad per pizza.
If you like, add a sprinkling of additional grated Parmesan cheese and a bit of lemon zest.

Serve these beauties immediately while the crust is still crunchy, the cheesy-gooey-egg still warm and the arugula still crispy.

You now can see how quickly these breakfast treats come together. Especially if you have the mini crusts prepared and hangin’ out in the freezer waiting to be enjoyed.

Imagine making these breakfast pizzas on a busy weekday morning, It really is possible.

Mini Breakfast Pizzas with Arugula Salad

Adapted from Cooking Light

Enjoy your pizza and salad all at the same time with these delicious breakfast treats.

Servings 4 servings

Author Rosemary Stelmach

Ingredients

12 ounces fresh pizza dough
all-purpose flour, for dusting
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
2 teaspoons lemon zest (plus more for serving, if desired)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
4 large eggs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (plus more for serving, if desired)
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 cups packed baby arugula

Instructions

Let dough stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Divide dough into 4 pieces.
Place a pizza stone or large baking sheet in oven; preheat to 450°F. Leave the stone in oven as it preheats.
On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece of dough into a 6 to 7-inch circle. Pierce liberally with the tines of a fork.
Carefully arrange 2 dough circles on the hot pizza stone. Bake at 450°F for 3 minutes. Remove from oven, and flip so that the cooked side is facing up. Set aside. Repeat with remaining 2 dough circles
Stir together ricotta cheese and zest in a medium bowl. Divide the ricotta mixture evenly among the cooked sides of dough circles; sprinkle evenly with 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Top each dough circle with 1 egg and 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan.
Working in 2 batches, return topped dough circles to the hot pizza stone. Bake at 450°F until egg whites are set and yolks are still a little runny, about 6 to 10 minutes.
Whisk together the extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl. Stir in the arugula so that the leaves are evenly coated.
Top each cooked pizza with about 1 cup dressed arugula. If desired, sprinkle a small amount of additional grated Parmesan over each along with a bit of lemon zest. Serve immediately.

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