We skip the tomato sauce for this zucchini pizza, and instead top it with thinly sliced fresh zucchini, fresh mozzarella and ricotta cheeses, and toasted pine nuts
A little bit of char (on a zucchini, ricotta, and toasted pine nut pizza) never hurt nobody.
I’ve already written all about my dad’s fantastic Wood Fired Pizza Oven – if you haven’t yet heard the story and seen the photos, by all means please check out my last blog post. But for this post, I want to share with you the recipe for one of my favorite pizzas that my dad has created – the fresh zucchini pizza with toasted pine nuts and dollops of ricotta cheese. This zucchini pizza has quickly become one of my favorites because of its prefect balance of flavors. It doesn’t have tomato sauce like a traditional pizza would; instead we use a combination of mozzarella and ricotta cheeses that are super creamy and cheesy while still allowing the flavor of the fresh zucchini to shine through. The sweetness that the tomatoes would normally contribute comes instead from the zucchini and ricotta cheese, and everything is brought together by the super savory and nutty toasted pine nuts on top.
Zucchini Pizza with toasted pine nuts and ricotta fresh from the oven.
With the amount of flavor that it packs in, this zucchini pizza is actually almost deceptively simple to make; you really only need a few ingredients. And if you have a wood fired pizza oven like my dad, it’ll be even easier since the pizza itself will take less than 2 minutes to cook. Don’t panic though! I know most people don’t have pizza ovens in their backyards – most people aren’t my dad – so all the fantastic flavor of this zucchini pizza can still be yours straight from your regular oven or barbecue. If your curious about how barbecue pizza works, check out my post on Grilled Pizza with Ricotta and Glazed Pears to learn more about how to grill a pizza and why it works out so well – and this recipe can easily be adapted to be cooked on the grill.
Topping the zucchini pizza with those toasted pine nuts from the cast iron skillet.
If your going to use your regular oven, you’ll want to heat you oven to as hot as possible and use a pizza stone if you have one. The great thing about a pizza stone is that it mimics the effects of cooking a pizza in a traditional wood or coal oven; the pizza is placed directly onto the preheated stone so that it begins cooking immediately, and the porus stone will absorb the extra moisture from the dough so you get that extra crispy crust. And while it may not be as fantastic as it is from a wood fired pizza oven, this zucchini pizza with toasted pine nuts is too good to not make at home, even in a conventional oven.
- ½ lb pizza dough, home made or pre-prepared (Trader Joe's make a good one)
- 1 small zucchini
- ½ cup ricotta cheese
- 6 oz mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced or shredded
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- dried oregano
- salt
- Preheat the oven to as hot as it will go - usually around 550. If you are using a pizza stone, which is preferable, preheat this as well. If you don't have a pizza stone you can use a baking sheet, also preheated.
- On a well floured surface, stretch and roll your your pizza dough to ¼ inch thick disc around 12 inches in diameter.
- Thinly slice your zucchini to about ⅛ of an inch thick, using either a mandolin or very carefully with a knife.
- In a small cast iron skillet or pan over medium heat, toast your pine nuts until they are nicely browned, 4-5 minutes.
- Assemble your pizza: Start with a drizzle of olive oil over the dough. Layer your mozzarella cheese, followed by the sliced zucchini, being sure not the overlap the pieces. Add dollops of the ricotta cheese spread evenly on the pizza, and finish with a sprinkle of oregano and salt.
- Using a pizza peel or the back of a cookie sheet, transfer your assembled pizza to the preheated baking surface. Bake for 5 minutes, then check and spin the pizza. Cook for another 5-10 minutes or longer if necessary, depending on the temperature of the oven, until the crust is browned and cheese is melted.
- Top with toasted pine nuts immediately and serve.
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