Vegetarian Pizza Bagel Bites
20 miniature bagels, cut in half
2 C mozzarella cheese, finely diced
1 cup vegetarian/vegan pepperoni, finely diced (or Morningstar Farms “beef”)
1 -1 1/2 C pizza sauce, your favorite
1 teaspoon italian seasoning
1 teaspoon oregano
Lay bagels on large cookie sheet. Combine remaining ingredients and mix well.
Top each 1/2 of the bagel with about 2-3 Tbsp. of mixture. I actually completely cheated this time, as I’d already made Bolognese Sauce the day before. So, instead of the sauce and pepperoni or “beef” and seasonings, I just spooned on the bolognese and cheese. These are meant to be made ahead of time and frozen, then baked. However, you can reduce the baking time (to about 10-15 minutes) and cook them at this stage. But, if you want them to be just like the bagel bites in the store without all those unpronounceable ingredients and meat, continue with freezing directions. They do make a cheese flavor, but for some reason they don’t stock that at my wholesale club and, in my opinion the 9-packs are too expensive.
Flash freeze on cookie sheet for about 3 hours or until topping on bagels is firm.
Transfer to large freezer bag, label and freeze.
To serve: Bake from frozen at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until heated through and cheese melts.
Original recipe can be found here.
The Results
Yum. Duh. Delicious bagel bites without all the fun extra preservatives and no picking off tiny bits of “pepperoni-style” meat.
This post is linked at This Week’s Cravings.
