Lamb Pizzettes

I served these Lamb Pizzettes at the Christmas Murder Mystery Party that I catered in early December. I did the catering, and I also played a suspect in the case—Lorenzo Giueni, the chef (who happens to look exactly like me but with a poorly drawn on mustache…):

It was a ton of fun, and the food was very well received (I’ll be sharing a few more of the recipes that I served at the party in the future). I chose to serve a bunch of little hors d’oeuvres for dinner since I was feeding over 40 people. These little lamb bites were the perfect party finger food. The flavors were warm and comforting. The nutty pine nuts, spicy lamb mixture, and piquant chile oil are countered by the cooling yogurt and fresh mint. You also get a whole mouthful of textures, from the crisp pita and warm ground meat, to the creamy, cool yogurt. It’s the perfect bite!

Lamb Pizzettes

recipe from here

makes 5 dozen pizzettes (I doubled this for the party)

ingredients:

• 1 ½ tsp ground cumin
• 2 tbsp pine nuts
• ¼ cup chopped fresh mint
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1 large egg
• 2 green onions, sliced finely
• 1 ½ tsp chile oil + more for drizzling
• 30 mini 2 inch pitas, separated into 2 rounds each
• 1 lb ground lamb
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Brush 2 large baking sheets with olive oil. Arrange the pitas, cut-side up on the sheets and brush each with olive oil. Bake in the upper and lower thirds of the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly toasted and crisp.
2. Toast the pine nuts in a skillet over medium heat until lightly golden.
3. In a large bowl, combine half of the mint, the green onion, cumin, cinnamon, toasted pine nuts, egg, large pinch of salt, and freshly ground pepper. Add in the lamb and knead until evenly combined.
4. Spread each pita with a rounded teaspoon of the meat mixture. Bake for roughly 8 minutes, until lamb is cooked through.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt with the chile oil and ½ of the mint. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Top each pizzette with a small dollop of the mixture and garnish with a drop of chile oil.

These are also a grey make-ahead dish. Bake the pizzettes up to 8 hours ahead. Store the yogurt mixture in the fridge. When ready to serve, reheat the pizzettes at 250 degrees until warm and top with the yogurt mixture.