A Venezuelan and Italian fusion type of pizza. I followed the pizza method using the dough to prepare Arepas. At first, even my husband was perplexed. But the result was fantastic! And so are-pizza was born. It’s crunchy, delicious, and perfect for a stay-in party with friends and family. With this recipe, I used mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil because they are my favourite pizza ingredients. However, feel free to experiment with veggies, meat, or anything else you may like. No matter what you use, your are-pizzas will be scrumptious! Tip. Prepare small charcuterie are-pizzas and garnish them with Parma ham or thin-cut Milano, Hungarian, or German salami. Yummy!

Recipe for two large are-pizzas or 6 small.

Ingredients

For the dough:

320 gr of Arepas flour

625 ml water

1 tsp salt

To garnish:

Few leaves of fresh basil

Pinch of dried oregano

A couple of tomatoes

Pitted black olives

Extra virgin olive oil drizzle on top

Pinch of salt

Method

To make the Arepas dough, take a medium-sized bowl and add the arepa flour (I use Harina PAN).

Add salt and water to it and mix well for a couple of minutes.

Divide the dough into 2 portions (depending on how thin you want the arepas).

With your hand, flatter the dough into 2 discs, working on a sheet of parchment paper or cling film.

Place a large pancake pan on low heat and transfer the disc onto it (if you prefer, for convenience, you can flatten the dough directly from the pan and then you can turn on the heat).

Let the dough cook for about 3 minutes or so on each side. It must reach a consistency where you can easily take the disc to place it in the frying pan without the disc falling apart or breaking.

To prepare the oil to shallow-fry the are-pizzas, add sunflower oil to a large frying pan over medium-high heat, and pre-heat the oil for about 5 minutes or so.

You could also make small pizzas, form small balls about 10cm in diameter and flatten them with your hands into a disc (not too thin as you need to be able to slice them). In this case, you can skip the pancake pan step.

When the oil is ready, add the discs and cook them one by one for about 5 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

When ready, let them cool a little and then add the mozzarella, tomatoes, and the rest of the ingredients.

Enjoy your are-pizza! 😇