Roasted Summer Squash Pizza
Every Summer, I enter into a full blown relationship with my garden squash. What can I say - these Summer squash pop off every year (without fail) and just seem to thrive in our backyard garden. Now is the time they’re coming in hot + we’ve officially entered into our very own squash season, which directs my attention towards finding all kinds of fun ways to incorporate it into our nightly meals. The assignment this week: pizza (driven by own personal craving for a nice, cheesy slice of pizza). This Roasted Summer Squash Pizza hit the spot, and was a perfectly light + refreshing Summer twist on pizza. Sounds kind of crazy and maybe impossible to have a light and refreshing pizza, but this delivered. It has an herby, whipped ricotta base with tender roasted squash loaded on top. Finished with some roasted pine nuts and fresh basil - it’s heaven. The flavor of the herbs and the veggies was just so Summer-y and light, and it felt like such a sweet garden meal to enjoy for a relaxing night in. Even the cold pieces straight from the fridge are pretty damn good. So good + such a fun way to put the squash harvest to good use, and you better believe I’m going to re-purpose this herby ricotta base for future pizzas.
Key to flavor - the char
Squash on it’s own - kinda lack luster. Squash that’s been seasoned and roasted so it is tender + lightly browned - heaven!
Roasted squash takes on such a good flavor, and piled on top of a crispy pizza crust it’s even better. Grill it, roast it, whatever! The key is to get the little bit of char around the edges. Light but so flavorful, and an ideal light veggie to pile on top of delightful, baked to perfection pizza dough.
Don’t skimp on the herbs
The cheesy herb base is a true highlight of what this pizza has going on. As simple as ricotta + basil + garlic thrown into the food processor to get the most velvety ricotta base.
First thing to note - if you’ve never whipped ricotta to light + airy cheese heaven…..welcome. It’s the best way to enjoy this cheese because the texture is just perfect. But whipped ricotta with herbs? Next levell! Herbs are everywhere in this meal, and I’m heavy handed with them. For the whipped ricotta + basil base, I used almost equal parts basil + ricotta, and I loved how strong the flavor of basil is. It also takes on this pseudo pesto flavor, and that was the goal. It’s very delicious with the roasted squash. I saved a little extra basil to sprinkle on top as a garnish. Looked delightful + flavor was 10/10.
Do pre-bake the crust
To make sure your pizza crust passes the “stand-up” test (where the crust will stay sturdy + horizontal even after being to loaded with cheese and toppings), you’ve got to pre-cook it. We got the crust to the point of par-baked and then loaded it with the cheese + squash to get it nice on charred on the bottom. Our household tip if you’re making this at home: take the pizza off of the baking sheet and place it directly on the racks to get nice and crusty.
An ideal Summer meal. Perfect for a relaxing little end of the day moment in our yard, and a lovely end to our work day. This dinner-time in the yard ritual is our thing every Summer, and this Summer feels like the best one yet. Needless to say I’ll cherish these simple golden hours dinners in the yard and end of the night “chill” as long as I can.
For the pizza
1 prepared pizza dough
1 large squash or 2 smaller squash, thinly sliced into ribbons
EVOO
Salt + pepper
Red pepper flakes
1/4 c. grated parmesan
2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
extra fresh basil for garnish
For the ricotta sauce
2 garlic cloves
1 c. ricotta
1 c. fresh basil leaves
Salt + pepper
Preheat the oven to 375. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. In a bowl, toss together the squash slices, 2 tbsp EVOO, a pinch of salt + pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Lay the squash on a baking sheet + bake for 15 minutes. Flip, and bake another 15 minutes.
As the squash bakes, make the ricotta sauce. Add all of the ingredients to the food processor and puree until the herbs are fully incorporated. The texture should be light + velvety. Set aside in the fridge until ready to assemble your pizza.
When the squash has finished cooking, preheat the oven to 450.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment. Stretch the pizza dough + lay it on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes. The dough shouldn’t be browned, but firm enough to hold it’s shape (no longer existing as a sticky dough). Spread the ricotta based on top of the crust, leaving a 1/2 inch border around the edge of the crust. Top the ricotta with the baked zucchini, and sprinkle with the parmesan. Return to the oven and bake for another 8-10 minutes. At that point, remove the pizza from the oven and bake right on the rack for another 3-5 minutes. The crust should be browned + bottom of the pizza firm.
Transfer the pizza to a cutting board and let sit for a couple minutes - just enough to cool sightly. Cut the pizz into serving sizes and sprinkle with the pine nuts + extra basil. Eat and enjoy!