After School Snack | Sweet Veggie Mini Pizzas (V)

It’s the second week back to school here in London and it got me thinking about back to school recipes. My daughter is still 2 ½ years old so I am yet to experience the back to school mad morning rushes that other friends and family members of mine must endure with their kids, but I know I will be experiencing it myself shortly!

Anyway I was browsing online and some back to school recipes caught my eye. Lots of fancy animal shapes, vegetable trees and even rice mice!! I thought ‘seriously?! As a mother who has the time to cut out stars, stick them on bread and make fancy rice mice! Next thing you know mothers will be expected to carve a unicorn out of a watermelon just to get their kids to eat food!’

Don’t get me wrong… presentation is important but so is taste. Most of these fancy options were bits of salad presented on a plate in the shape of a cats head. Although eating vegetables is extremely important, I think salads should be incorporated into a child’s diet as an accompaniment to yummy meals. In fact I already do this with my daughter and she loves eating salad alongside her main meals.

So try this yummy pizza recipe out on your kids. It’s light enough to eat after school curbing hunger pangs while the kids wait for dinner, and is also great as a lunch time meal for younger children.

Sweet Veggie Mini Pizzas

Serves 2-4 kids. Total prep time: 10 mins. Total cooking time: 10 mins.

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp minced ginger
  • 2 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp coriander
  • 3 x bay leaves
  • 200g tinned chopped tomatoes
  • 1 red onion – finely sliced
  • 4 x ready-made pizza bases
  • 1 x tin of crushed pineapple (as much as you’d like)
  • 1 x tin of sweetcorn (as much as you’d like)
  • 2 x handfuls of cheddar cheese

Method

Heat the oil in a frying pan and stir-fry the ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander and bay leaves on low heat for 1 minute. Then pour in the tomatoes and leave to simmer on medium-low heat allowing the sauce to thicken.

Once the sauce has thickened, remove from the heat and remove the bay leaves.

Place the four pizza bases on a baking tray, spread the sauce evenly over each one, layer the onions, pineapple pieces, sweetcorn and cheese.

Place the baking tray in the middle of a pre-heated oven (200C/ 400F/ Gas 6) for 10mins until the cheese has melted.

Serve to kids warm with a side salad.

Tip: No time to pick up mini pizza bases? Substitute the bases for slices of bread instead. It tastes just as good and is more cost-effective!


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